Nine Months
by Foxzet
Summary: A prequel to Challenge of Fatherhood. After Patamon and Gatomon's romantic night together, Gatomon gets pregnant... Rated T for minor adult themes. PataGato, some Takari and other pairings. Don't read if you don't like PataGato or Takari.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: _**_This is it, the prequel to Challenge of Fatherhood just like I promised. I've got a few words before you begin.  
First of all, DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Digimon or any of the related characters!  
Second, you probably have understood that this is a PataGato fanfic. If you don't like PataGato, I'd suggest that you go back to the previous page and look for fanfics about pairings you DO like. You have been warned._

Chapter 1

It was an ordinary January day. T.K. was stroking his hair back in front of a mirror in his home. "Okay..." He mumbled, and took a deep breath. "How do I look?" "You look fine, T.K." Replied Patamon, who was sitting on the floor right next to T.K. "You really shouldn't make a fuzz out of this. Kari loves you the way you are, not the way you look." "You're right..." T.K. said and sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just kinda nervous." "It's okay." Patamon said with a smile. "I understand that today's a very special day for you." "Yeah. Mom's gone for a whole weekend, so I can be alone with Kari." T.K. stated. "Is Gatomon coming with her?" Patamon wondered. "Don't worry, Kari promised that she'd tag along." T.K. replied, and Patamon looked clearly excited. Fifteen minutes later, someone rang on the doorbell. T.K. went to open the door, and saw Kari and Gatomon. "Hi, T.K!" Kari said. "Hiya, Kari." T.K. greeted her. Gatomon had leaped at Patamon, and the two digimon shared a kiss. "Hey." Said Gatomon, who was sitting on top of Patamon. "Hi, Gatomon." Patamon said, and gently scratched under Gatomon's chin. "I missed you." "I missed you too." Gatomon replied, and got up from Patamon.

"Are you ready?" T.K. asked Kari, who smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go." She said. "W-where are you two going?" Patamon wondered. "Don't worry." T.K. said immediatly. "We're just gonna go outside to get some... Fresh air." Kari giggled slighlty. "We'll be gone for a few hours, so... You two play nice while we're gone." "O-of course." Gatomon replied, and she and Patamon both blushed a little. "Well then... See you later." T.K. said as he and Kari stepped into the hallway. "Bye!" Patamon and Gatomon replied, and T.K. closed the door. "Well..." Gatomon started, and smirked deviously. "Shall we continue from where we left off?" Patamon chuckled slightly, replied "Sure.", and the two started kissing again. However, after a while of making out, Patamon all of a sudden stopped. "What's the matter, Patamon?" Gatomon wondered. "We... We shouldn't be doing this." Patamon mumbled. "T.K. told us to be nice while he and Kari are gone, and-" "I understand." Gatomon said with a gentle smile. "Well, we can have other types of fun ourselves." "Yeah..." Patamon said. "What would you want to do?" Gatomon sniggered quietly, said "Tag!", and tagged Patamon before running away. "Hmph..." Patamon snorted, and ran after Gatomon.

After playing for a while, Patamon and Gatomon decided to take a small break on the couch. "Hmm... I wonder if there's anything good on the TV right now." Gatomon said. Patamon grabbed the remote, turned on the TV, and began changing the channel. "Nothing... Nothing... Naah... Nope." Patamon mumbled. "Nothing good on the TV today." "Well, we could watch a movie." Gatomon suggested. "Has T.K. got any good films?" "To be honest, I don't know..." Patamon replied. "Well, there's only one way to find out." Gatomon said, and hopped down from the couch. "Hmm... Action, sci-fi, comedies... Whoa, T.K. sure has a huge collection of horror films!" "Yeah, that's his special trick." Patamon said with a grin. "Eh?" Gatomon wondered. "You know how he and Kari watch movies every once in a while?" Patamon started. "Well, whenever T.K. gets to choose, he picks a horror film, just for the sole purpose of comforting Kari if she becomes frightened." "That's just mean!" Gatomon yelled and laughed out loud. "T.K's a clever boy." Patamon stated. "Don't you even try to do a similar to me." Gatomon warned Patamon. "I'm not afraid of horror movies at all." "Don't worry." Patamon said, and blinked.

Eventually, the two settled for a monster movie. A huge, reptilian creature was trampling in Tokyo. Gatomon yawned for some reason. "It was more exciting when we experienced this ourselves..." She stated. "Huh?" Patamon wondered, but then he remembered: VenomMyotismon. "Oh, right..." He said. "I'm gonna rest for a while." Gatomon muttered. "Say if anything interesting happens, okay?" "Okay." Patamon replied. Gatomon smiled, lied down on the couch and rested her head on Patamon's belly. Patamon stroke her head gently, almost making her fall asleep. However, Patamon felt something was wrong. "Hmm..." He thought. Was it just him, or did Gatomon look even more beautiful than usual? "Mmm..." Gatomon murmured. "That feels good, Patamon..." "Y-you look so pretty." Patamon blurted out. "Hmm?" Gatomon wondered, and opened one of her eyes. "I mean..!" Patamon said nervously, and blushed slightly. "You just... I don't know why, but you seem to be even more beautiful and attractive than you usually are... If that's even possible." "O-oh..." Gatomon mumbled. Now it was her turn to blush.

"I feel... Funny." Patamon said quietly. "What do you mean?" Gatomon asked. "Umm, it's kind of hard to explain." Patamon mumbled. "My belly feels tingly, and... And... Just looking a-at you makes something weird happen i-in between my legs." "I see." Gatomon said. "Don't worry, it's completely normal. I feel the same thing towards you right now..." "Really?" Patamon wondered, and Gatomon nodded as a reply. "Yes." She said. "Hmm... I wonder what's the reason behind this." Patamon muttered. "I know." Gatomon stated. "It's love." "L-love?" Patamon asked out of shock. "Yeah." Gatomon replied. "Very, very, VERY much love." She slowly approached Patamon, and gave him a big kiss. "...Wait." Patamon said, and pushed Gatomon away. "What's the matter?" Gatomon wondered. "W-we shouldn't." Patamon said, and shook his head. "We promised-" "Nobody has to find out." Gatomon whispered, and placed her paw on Patamon's mouth. "You know you want it, too." Patamon's eyes enlargened a little out of shock. "I-I..." He stuttered. "Come on." Gatomon said, and gently scratched Patamon's chin. "I know you want it, too." Patamon was completely stumped, until he smiled and shook his head. "Man I love you." He said quietly, and started making out with Gatomon again...

A couple hours later, at midnight, T.K. and Kari finally returned back to T.K's apartment. "Phew..." T.K. sighed out of relief. "I thought we'd never make it." "Well, the subway was an hour late..." Kari said. "But I still had a fun day. Thanks, T.K." "You're welcome, Kari." T.K. replied with a smile, and opened the door. "Gatomon! Patamon! We're home!" Kari yelled. "Hmm... Where are they?" "Over here." T.K. whispered, and pointed at the couch on the living room. Patamon and Gatomon were sleeping there, with their bodies covered by a blanket and both having a wide smile on their face. "Aww, they're so cute." Kari said quietly. "It's a shame we have to wake them up..." "You know... We don't have to." T.K. stated. "Huh?" Kari wondered. "I was wondering, if you, umm, would like to stay here for tonight." T.K. said. "Oh, I would love that!" Kari replied. "Just a moment, I'll call mom and ask if it's okay." "Alright then." T.K. said. "She says it's okay." Kari said to T.K. after calling her parents. "Great." T.K. said with a smile. "Well, good night then." "Good night, T.K..." Kari started. "And thanks." She gave T.K. a kiss to the cheek before they both went to sleep.

Patamon yawned hard and stretched his arms as he woke up the next morning. "Mmmh..." He mumbled. Patamon looked around, spotted Gatomon still sleeping right next to him, and smiled. "Right..." He thought, and started gently stroking Gatomon's head. Soon, Gatomon muttered something, and opened her eyes slightly. "Good- *YAWN* -morning, Patamon." She greeted Patamon. "Oh, sorry." Patamon said, and stopped stroking her head. "I didn't mean to wake you up..." "It's alright." Gatomon said with a smile. "But last night sure was... Whoa." Patamon stated, and fell on the couch on his back. Gatomon chuckled slightly, and said "I know." The two shared a kiss, and quickly stopped as they heard someone coming in the room. It was T.K, with Kari following him. "Oh, hello, T.K. and Kari!" Gatomon greeted the two. "Hi." Kari replied. "Did you lovebirds sleep well?" T.K. asked with a devious smile. "Y-yeah." Patamon and Gatomon replied, looked at one another, and blushed slightly. "Well Gatomon, it's time for us to go home." Kari said to Gatomon, who nodded and climbed out of the couch. "Thank you for allowing us to stay here, T.K." "It was nothing." T.K. replied. "See you later." "Bye." Gatomon said to Patamon. "Bye..." Patamon mumbled as Kari and Gatomon left.

The next week, the Junior DigiDestined were having a party at Kari's home. "Come on Patamon, let's go!" T.K. said as he and Patamon were about to go to the party themselves. "Yay!" Patamon cheered, and did a loop in the air. "I haven't seen Gatomon for too long time!" "Hey, hold your horses." T.K. said. "You'll get to see her soon enough." Soon enough, the two arrived at Kari's apartment. T.K. rang on the doorbell, and Kari opened the door for them. "T.K, hi!" Kari said excitedly. "Hiya, Kari." T.K. replied, and gave Kari a small kiss. "Come on in, we've been waiting for you two." T.K. and Patamon stepped in. Patamon looked around, and spotted Gatomon discussing with Hawkmon and Wormmon about something. "Heey! Gatomoon!" Patamon yelled, and flew at Gatomon, who looked back, and gulped a little. "O-oh, hi Patamon." She said quietly. "Hmm? Is everything alright?" Patamon wondered, and looked curious. "W-well..." Gatomon started. Veemon and Armadillomon, who had been eating snacks up until now, also looked rather curious. "I have to t-tell you something..." "What is it?" Patamon asked carefully. "I... I..." Gatomon mumbled. Even the DigiDestined looked relatively curious. "I wanted to t-tell you, that..." "Just spill it out, Gatomon!" Hawkmon encouraged her. Gatomon gulped, and took a deep breath.

"Patamon..." She started. "I... I'm pregnant."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Everyone in the room looked shocked, apart from Gatomon, and to a certain extent, Kari, who was only mildly surprised. "G... Gatomon..." Patamon uttered. "What did you say?" "I... I'm pregnant." Gatomon repeated. "And, y-you are the father." Patamon wobbled slightly, and fell on the floor out of shock. Veemon and Armadillomon quickly helped him up. "Gatomon," Kari started. "When... When do you think it happened?" "Umm, I-I..." Gatomon said, and blushed briefly. "I think happened... L-last week, when P-Patamon and I were on our o-own." "I see." Kari muttered with a gentle smile. "Just as I thought." "Y-you knew it?" T.K. asked, to which Kari nodded as a reply. "Gatomon had been acting quite strange the whole week, and when I remembered seeing her and Patamon sleeping together I knew something was going on." "Why didn't you tell us right away?" Wormmon asked Gatomon. "I-I didn't want to shock you..." Gatomon said, and looked slightly embarrassed. "Especially considering how Patamon would react-" She pointed at Patamon, but was surprised to see the look on Patamon's face. While he was teary-eyed, he was smiling widely.

"I'm going to become a father." He whispered, and wiped a tear from his eye. "Patamon..." T.K. muttered. "Gatomon, we... We're going to have a child!" Gatomon was relieved to see Patamon's reaction, but she was slightly shocked when Patamon suddenly gave her a passionate kiss. "Well then..." Veemon started. "Congratulations, you two!" "Friends," T.K. said, and grabbed a glass. "May I propose a toast for the soon-to-become parents, Patamon and Gatomon." Everyone nodded, and grabbed a glass as well. "Cheers." T.K. said. "Cheers!" The others repeated as they drank their glasses empty. "Thank you, everybody." Gatomon thanked. "You don't know how much this means to me... To us." She looked at Patamon with a gentle smile on her face. Patamon looked slightly nervous for some reason, and blushed lightly. "What's wrong?" She asked him. "O-oh, nothing." Patamon replied. "I'm just so excited about this... We're going to become parents, Gatomon!" "I know." Gatomon said quietly, and smiled as the others continued their celebration. "I know."

"Are ya sure you'ren up for it?" Veemon asked Patamon. "Up for what?" Patamon wondered. "Parenthood is a huge step in your life." Veemon stated. "It takes a lot of responsibility, and you... Well, no offence, but you're kinda childish sometimes-" "I know he is." Gatomon interrupted. "That's why I love him so much." Patamon blushed briefly, but didn't say anything. "Anyways, do ya think you can handle it?" Veemon asked him. "Of course." Patamon replied, and grinned confidently. "If Elecmon can take care of countless Digi-Eggs, I don't see why I couldn't take care of one baby digimon." "An egg and a baby are two completely different things." Veemon stated. "Besides, you're no Elecmon." "Well, at least I'll have to try." Patamon said quietly. "What kind of father would I be if I let Gatomon raise the baby on her own without me doing a thing?" "You're going to become a great father, Patamon." Gatomon encouraged Patamon, and gave him a kiss to the cheek. "I'll go get some more lemonade." Veemon stated, and left Patamon and Gatomon on their own.

"Don't care what he says." Gatomon said to Patamon. "Eh?" Patamon wondered, and looked confused. "Veemon's teasing you just out of jealousy because I chose you instead of him-" Gatomon explained, but was cut by Patamon. "Oh, it's not that." He said quickly. "Veemon himself admitted to me that he had a mere crush on you, and..." "And what?" Gatomon asked. "N-nothing." Patamon mumbled. Gatomon looked at Veemon, then at Patamon again, and gasped. "Does he... Does he have a-" "I can't tell you yet." Patamon said immediatly. "Veemon hasn't told anyone apart from me, not even Davis." "What kind of a girl is she?" Gatomon wondered quietly. "Gatomon, please, I can't tell you!" Patamon whispered. "Veemon will explain himself when he's ready." "Sorry." Gatomon apologized. She looked at her belly, and smiled. "I wonder if you'll ever have a girl- or boyfriend." She whispered to her tummy, and rubbed it gently. "Maybe we're one day going to be grandparents!" "Let's not jump ahead of things now, shall we?" Patamon said. "Who do you think it'll be?" Gatomon asked him. "Do you mean gender or species?" Patamon wondered. "Both." Gatomon replied.

"Hmm... I have a feeling that it'll be a girl." Patamon said after thinking for a while. "But whether it's going to be a Patamon or a Gatomon, I have no idea." After the party ended, the DigiDestined returned back home one by one, until only T.K, Kari and their digimon were left. "Umm... T.K, is it okay if we stay here for tonight?" Patamon carefully asked T.K. "I-I wouldn't want to leave Gatomon on her own..." "I understand." T.K. said, and looked at Kari, who smiled gently and nodded. "Of course you can." She said. "It's better for your baby that Gatomon and you stay together." "Yay, thanks!" Patamon thanked excitedly. Kari let Patamon and Gatomon to sleep in her room, while she and T.K. slept in the living room. "This is going to be so exciting..." Kari muttered. "I wonder how the two of them are going to handle the next nine months... And afterwards." "They'll be fine." T.K. stated confidently. "Patamon and Gatomon are strong digimon... And we'll be there to support them as much as we can, too." "Of course." Kari said and giggled slightly before turning off the lights. "Good night." "Good night, Kari." T.K. replied, and the two soon fell asleep.

While Gatomon had almost immediatly dozed off, Patamon was still lying awake on the bed. He was thinking about everything he had heard today. "I'm going to become a father." He thought. "But... Am I ready for it? A baby is going to become a huge change in my life... and Gatomon's too." Veemon's words were stuck inside Patamon's head: "Parenthood takes a lot of responsibility..." But was Patamon adult enough to become a parent? He was the most childish out of all the DigiDestined Digimon. "I have to change." Patamon muttered. "If I want to be a good dad, I have to stop being a kid and mature up." "Are you- *YAWN* still awake, Patamon?" Gatomon wondered, having just woken up. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" Patamon apologized. "It's alright." Gatomon replied, and rubbed her eyes. "Are you okay?" "W-what do you mean?" Patamon asked, and gulped silently. "Come on." Gatomon said. "I can see it from miles away." "I just..." Patamon started. "Nothing. I'm just a little nervous about all this... Gatomon, we're going to be a father and a mother!" "I know." Gatomon said with a smile, and gently stroke Patamon's cheek. "And you're going to become a great dad." "Y-yeah, maybe..." Patamon mumbled, closed his eyes tight and soon fell asleep.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay here." Patamon thanked Kari the next morning. "Hey, don't mention it." Kari said. "It's just a pleasure for me to help you two as much as I can." "That goes for both of us." T.K. stated. "Is there anything I could do for you?" "Not right now, but thanks anyway." Gatomon said. "Well... There is one thing." Patamon admitted. "What is it?" T.K. asked. "Umm..." Patamon started, "I was wondering if you could help us find a house in the Digital World." "Eh?" Kari wondered. "We can't live here with Kari forever." Patamon stated. "Our child should have a proper enviroment to grow in- no offence, Kari." "I understand." Kari said with a smile. "Patamon..." Gatomon muttered. "Of course we'll help ya." T.K. said. "Thanks, guys." Patamon thanked. "This really means a lot to us." "You can still stay here as long as you like." Kari said. "We shouldn't move Gatomon around too much now that she's pregnant." "Hey, I can move just as well as before!" Gatomon exclaimed, and jumped up. Suddenly her stomach growled out of hunger. "Ow..." She whined. "I'm starving!" "I'll make some breakfast." Kari said, and quickly headed to the kitchen.

"Man..." T.K. whispered after they had finished breakfast. "How huge appetite can one digimon have, anyway?" He, Kari and Patamon all looked at Gatomon, who had eaten eight loafs of bread, too platefuls of cereal and six rice balls. "Whew... I'm stuffed." Gatomon sighed, and burped slightly. "Sorry." "If you eat that much right now, I'd hate to see your appetite when the pregnancy has gone longer." Kari joked. They all laughed, but Gatomon soon stopped, looking rather sick. "Huh? Are you alright, Gatomon?" Patamon asked her." "Yeah, I just... Eugh..." Gatomon moaned. "I have to go to the toilet." She headed to the restroom with her paw covering her mouth. "I think Gatomon ate one riceball too many..." T.K. said and chuckled in an uneasy way. "Morning sickness." Kari explained, and soon Gatomon stepped back to the kitchen, looking a little ill. "Feeling better?" Patamon asked worriedly. "A little..." Gatomon mumbled as a reply, and slowly sat down. "Don't worry." Kari comforted her. "Those should stop in about 12 to 13 weeks." "Yippee." Gatomon cheered sarcastically. "Try to hang on." T.K. said. "Only nine months to go." Gatomon sighed quietly. "I hope I can make it..." She whispered. Patamon looked at Gatomon worriedly, and gulped silently.

"I'll have to get going." T.K. said, and stood up. "I've got so much work today." "Oh, too bad." Kari said sadly. "I'd say." T.K. sighed. "Mom returns tonight, and I have to clean the house, go to the grocery store, make dinner..." "Hey, how about I come and help you?" Kari suggested. "Umm, I don't know..." T.K. said. "I think you should stay here with Patamon and Gatomon-" "Hey, they don't need a babysitter." Kari stated. "Right, guys?" "Yeah!" Patamon replied. "Besides, mom and dad are gone for a week, and I don't think Tai will really mind Gatomon and Patamon." "Well... Alright then." T.K. said. "Thanks, Kari." "I'll come back in a few hours." Kari said to the two digimon. "Just don't break anything while we're gone, okay?" "Of course, Kari." Gatomon said, and sounded a little hurt. "We're not little kiddos anymore." "I know, I know." Kari muttered. "Bye, guys!" "See ya!" Patamon said to T.K. and Kari as the two DigiDestined left. "I hope they'll be alright..." Kari mumbled worriedly. "And I mean on a general basis, what with Gatomon being pregnant and everything..." "You can still change your mind if you want." T.K. said. "No, right now you need more help than Patamon and Gatomon do." Kari stated, and grabbed T.K's hand, making him smile slightly.

"Feeling any better?" Patamon asked Gatomon. "Yeah, I'm all fine now." Gatomon replied, and tried to look calm. "I just... I hope that this isn't bad for the baby." "Oh, no no no." Patamon said, and shook his head. "Morning sickness occurs with more than half of all pregnant women. I'm sure it has no effect on the baby itself." "I sure hope so." Gatomon sighed. The two stayed quiet for a moment, until Patamon eventually opened his mouth. "Umm..." He started. "I had a dream about the baby last night-" "You too?" Gatomon wondered. "E-eh?" Patamon said. "You mean..?" "Yeah! I dreamed about the baby, too!" Gatomon replied. "Really? What was it about?" Patamon wondered. "Let me see..." Gatomon said, trying to recall her dream. "We lived in a house in the Digital World, and the baby..." She smiled a little as she paused for a moment. "She looked at me, and said 'Mommy'..." "So it was a she?" Patamon asked. "I, I think so..." Gatomon said. "But I can't quite remember what she looked like." "I see." Patamon muttered. "So... How was your dream?" Gatomon asked him. "W-well, umm..." Patamon started, and suddenly looked extremely nervous. "It's, uuh-"

"Patamon, what's wrong?" Gatomon wondered. "W-wrong?" Patamon said. "Nothing! I'm a-all fine-" "Patamon, you're not alright." Gatomon stated. "T.K. and Kari might have not noticed it, but I can clearly tell you're hiding something." "No, I just..." Patamon said. "What is it?" Gatomon asked. "Come on, you can tell me, right? I'm your girlfriend-" "More than a girlfriend." Patamon said immediatly. "You're everything to me, Gatomon." "Well, am I 'everything to you' enough so you can tell me what are you worrying about?" Gatomon asked. "I... I... Fine." Patamon sighed, and took a deep breath. "We were in a hospital... It was the time of the childbirth. Everything went alright, the baby was halfway out, until..." Patamon gulped: He was pale and sweaty. "S-something went wrong... You started screaming, a-and you couldn't push the baby out..." "Patamon." Gatomon whispered after seeing the tears in Patamon's eyes. "I couldn't do anything..." He muttered, and shook his head. "There was blood everywhere, you started screaming harder and harder, until... Until..." Patamon was breathing rapidly, but Gatomon already knew what Patamon was going to say. "You... Y-you died." Patamon weeped, and began sobbing hard.

"Oh, Patamon..." Gatomon said, stood up and quickly went to hug Patamon. She pressed Patamon's head against her chest. "It's okay. Just let it all out." "I, I can't get that imagine out of my head..." Patamon cried. "It's alright." Gatomon whispered. "It was just a bad dream." "B-but... What if it wasn't only a dream?" Patamon asked worriedly. "W-what if it was a prediction? I don't want to lose you... Gatomon, I love you!" "I know you do." Gatomon said. "And I love you too." The two remained silent for a while, until Patamon managed to open his mouth again. "...Gatomon?" He started. "Yes?" Gatomon said. "Will you... Will you promise that you'll never leave me?" Patamon asked, and sounded slightly embarrassed. Gatomon smiled as Patamon sniffled, and murmured "Of course I do." into his ear. Patamon wiped his tears and now smiled himself. "Great." He said quietly. "Thanks, Gatomon." "You are welcome." Gatomon replied, and shared a kiss with Patamon. "We're going to make it through this." Patamon assured her. "I know." Gatomon said. "And we'll do it together." "Yeah." Patamon muttered, and the two sat down again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Patamon and Gatomon decided to stay in the Kamiya residence for a couple more weeks, as Patamon had failed to find a suitable home for him and Gatomon even with T.K's help. However, there was once a small problem: Kari, Tai and their parents were leaving for a week to spent their vacation at the mountains. This would mean that Patamon and Gatomon would be left on their own for an entire week. Patamon suggested that he and Gatomon could move to the Digital World for a while, but Kari protested, since the baby would be in danger as they still didn't have a proper home. Luckily T.K. accepted to move the two digimon over to his apartment. "Thank you so much." Kari thanked T.K, who merely grinned as a reply. "Hey, they're my friends as well." He reminded Kari. "Of course I'd help them... And you." Kari noticed that T.K. sounded rather sad when he said 'you'. "What's the matter?" She asked him. "I won't be seeing you for an entire week." T.K. muttered. "I promise to call you every day." Kari said in order to cheer him up. "And... Once I return back home, I-I have a surprise for you." Kari sounded slightly nervous, and T.K. looked surprised. "You mean-?" He asked, and Kari nodded quietly. "C'mon Kari, let's go!" Tai shouted. "In a minute!" Kari replied, looked at T.K, and gave him a kiss. "I'll see you in a week, okay?" "O-okay." T.K. said, and Kari smiled to him before leaving.

T.K. grinned in an excited way. "Yes!" He thought, and jumped for joy. He had a smug look on his face even when he returned back home. "I'm home!" He shouted after opening the door. "Hiya, T.K!" Patamon greeted him. "My, do you look awfully happy..." "Eh?" T.K. wondered. "Well, I just... Nevermind. Where's Gatomon?" "Morning sickness." Patamon explained, and pointed at the toilet. Gatomon stepped out of the bathroom in a few minutes, looking slightly sick. "Euugh..." She moaned. "I'm never going to want to eat breakfast again if this won't stop." "Don't worry, morning sickness won't last long." Patamon assured her. "Would you like to eat something?" "No thanks." Gatomon replied, trying not to vomit. "But I'd want something to drink." "Of course." T.K. said, and opened the fridge. "Hmm, let's see..." He mumbled, and took out a bottle of lemon ice tea. He poured some of it in a glass, and handed the glass to Gatomon. "Thank you." Gatomon thanked, and drank the glass empty. "You haven't changed much yet..." T.K. stated. "At least physically." "Well, these are just the first weeks of the pregnancy." Patamon said.

"Umm... Have you managed to find a house for us yet?" Gatomon asked carefully. "We're still working on it." T.K. stated. "We've searched high and low, but there really aren't that much places where you could live safely with a child-" "Not so fast." Patamon said, looking sort of confident. "I put a notice on the internet yesterday, and someone told me of a very cheap house somewhere in the File Island." "Alright, Patamon!" T.K. said. "Clever thinking from you!" "Hmm, File Island eh?" Gatomon asked. "It sounds perfect to me." "R-really?" Patamon wondered, and Gatomon nodded. "The climate is nice, a lot of plains and woods where children can roam, beaches where you can spend your day, the digimon living there are mostly kind... Overall, File Island sounds like a place where I would like to live with my child and their father." Patamon smiled due to all the praise he got: T.K. and Gatomon both knew that he was a humble digimon. "Hmm... Are you sure you didn't buy a pig in a poke?" T.K. asked Patamon. "Have you seen pictures of the house or anything?" "Umm, not really..." Patamon admitted. "Maybe we should go check it out." T.K. suggested, and the three headed to the Digital World.

"Uh oh..." Gatomon said. "I knew it." T.K. sighed. "Damnit!" Patamon shouted. "No wonder that the place was so cheap..." The 'house' Patamon had bought was a mere shack. Not only that, but it was also ruined: The windows were broken, many tiles had dropped from the roof, and the wood the house was made out of was mouldy. "S-shall we check the inside as well?" Gatomon wondered. "Well, it can't get any worse than this..." Patamon mumbled, and opened the front door. He was wrong: The house was covered in dust, and there was spider web everywhere. "Well- EEK!" Gatomon screamed as her foot fell through the floor. "GATOMON!" Patamon yelped as he and T.K. quickly helped her back up. "Are you alright." "Y-yeah, I'm fine." Gatomon replied. "J-just a little scared, that's all." "This place is the most abominable excuse for a house I've ever seen in my life." Patamon stated. "Well, I have to admit that the location would be perfect, but the building itself... What are we going to do now?" T.K. placed his hand on the wall. "Maybe..." He started. "Maybe we could rebuild this thing." "Huh?" Patamon wondered. "The landlot belongs to you now." T.K. said. "I think it'd be cheaper to rebuild this house rather than buy a new one." "Well, we could always try..." Patamon muttered. "Good idea, T.K." Gatomon said as T.K. pulled out his D-Terminal.

"Umm, what are you doing?" Patamon asked T.K. "Just callin' some help." T.K. explained, and started typing a message. "S-shouldn't we hire a building company or something?" Patamon suggested. "We shouldn't bother the others-" "Hey, only the building materials themselves will cost a fortune." T.K. stated. "Besides, I bet they wouldn't mind helping out the soon-to-be parents." T.K. sent the message, and soon enough Davis, Ken, Cody, Matt, Veemon, Wormmon, Armadillomon and Gabumon arrived. "Hiya, guys." T.K. greeted them. "Hi." Matt replied. "So, this is the house Patamon bought, eh?" Veemon asked, and sniggered. "Beautiful. You truly have a great nose for things like this." "I know that it's a horrible dump, thanks." Patamon mumbled, looking slightly embarrassed. "Don't worry." Wormmon cheered him up. "We'll help you to make this house better than new." "Well, I think it's better to roll up our sleeves and get to work." Ken said, and the others agreed. "Thank you, everyone." Gatomon thanked. "I, I don't know how I and Patamon can thank you enough." "Just sit back and enjoy the show." Davis replied and grinned.

Two weeks later, T.K, Patamon and the others had almost finished revamping and rebuilding the house. It was now the sixth week of Gatomon's pregnancy, and she and Kari were visiting the construction site, carrying glasses and a bottle of lemonade. "Hey, boys!" Kari said. "Hi, Kari!" Davis replied. "Hey there." T.K. said, and shared a quick kiss with Kari. "We thought you might be thirsty, so here's something for you to drink." Kari explained as Gatomon opened the bottle of lemonade. "Well, we all could use a small break..." Matt stated. "Hey, it's almost finished!" Kari said as she took a closer look at the house. "Yeah, we only have to install the room and paint it and then it's all done." Patamon said happily. "Don't forget the furniture!" Gatomon said quickly. "Oh, right..." Patamon muttered. After the break, the boys got back to work, and the next day the roof was finished. "Phew..." Veemon panted. "We did it... We actually did it." Patamon said quietly. "How can I ever thank you guys enough." "Just don't burn it down any time soon." T.K. joked as a reply, and they all laughed. Gatomon, Kari, Sora, Biyomon, Mimi, Palmon and Yolei arrived at the house. "Whoa..." Gatomon muttered in awe. "Well girls, looks like it's our turn." Kari said. Patamon noticed that they were carrying buckets of paint and paintbrushes. "Let's get to work!" Yolei said as they opened the buckets.

Another week later, the house was finally ready. The girls had finished painting, and Patamon and Gatomon had furnished the house. "Here it finally is..." Gatomon mumbled as she and Patamon checked the house from the inside and the outside. "Our very own house where we'll raise our child." "Yup." Patamon said with a nod. The two of them looked at T.K. and Kari, who were standing just behind them. "How can we ever thank you enough for this?" "Hey, this is what friends do." Kari replied with a gentle smile. "We all had fun building and painting this place." "I think that the baby's going to like this place, too." T.K. said and looked at Gatomon's belly. "Speaking of, Joe promised to take a look at the baby tomorrow via ultrasound imaging." "R-really?" Gatomon wondered, and Kari nodded. Patamon blushed slightly. "What's wrong?" T.K. asked him. "You... You are all so nice to us..." Patamon whispered, and blushed even harder. "You've done so much for me and Gatomon..." "Oh, Patamon..." Kari said, and stroke his head. "You don't have to be so humble. Of course we'll help you as much as we can, it's our responsibility." "You've always protected us when we were fighting the forces of evil." T.K. reminded Patamon. "Now it's our turn to help you out." "...Thank you." Patamon whispered. "We'll have to go now, it's getting dark." T.K. said. "Bye for now." "Bye bye!" Kari said. "See you!" Gatomon replied. "...Bye!" Patamon exclaimed, and T.K. and Kari left.

"I think we should go to bed now." Gatomon stated after taking a look at the clock. "Yeah, maybe..." Patamon muttered. "The first night in our own house." "I know." Gatomon said. "It's going to be exciting." "Maybe..." Patamon said as they climbed upstairs to their brand new bedroom. "Phew..." Gatomon sighed as she lay down on the bed. "It's been quite a day... I'm so tired." "You're not the only one." Patamon said with a yawn. "Good night." "Good night, honey." Gatomon replied, and closed her eyes. Patamon was still lost in his thoughts. "What if... What if something goes wrong?" He thought. "Or... What if I'm not the father-" He stopped immediatly. "No. That can't be. I HAVE to be the father. Gatomon would never cheat on me-" All of a sudden, lightning struck nearby. "EEK!" Both Patamon and Gatomon screamed, and jumped up. "I-it's a huge storm outside." Patamon said after looking out of the window. "T-that was pretty close..." Gatomon gasped. "Patamon, I'm scared." "Me, me too." Patamon admitted. The two looked at one another for a while, until Patamon hopped out of his bed and pushed it next to Gatomon's. "Better." Patamon said, and Gatomon smiled. "Good night." She whispered as the two shared a kiss and fell asleep, hugging one another.

The next day T.K. and Kari took Patamon and Gatomon into a hospital, where they were waiting for Joe. "He should be here any minute now..." T.K. said after looking at his watch. "Maybe he's got a busy day." Kari suggested. "I mean, he's the only human doctor who's specialized in digimon, many others might use his services-" The door opened all of a sudden, and Joe stepped in. "Hello there." He greeted the four. "Hiya, Joe!" Kari replied. "How are the two soon-to-be parents?" Joe asked Patamon and Gatomon. "We're fine." Patamon said, and looked happy. "Speak for yourself..." Gatomon moaned. She looked slightly sick. "Aah, I see." Joe said. "Don't worry, morning sickness should start fading away and stop completely from the 12th week onwards." "I sure hope so..." Gatomon muttered. "Well, looks like you don't need us for now." T.K. said, and stood up. "Kari and I will wait outside." "As you wish." Joe replied, and T.K. and Kari left the room. "Well then," Joe started. "Gatomon, would you lay down on this bed please." Gatomon nodded, and jumped on the bed. Patamon sat down to the chair next to her.

"Okay then, let's see..." Joe said, and grabbed an ultrasound machine. He looked at a monitor while scanning Gatomon's belly. "This won't hurt a bit." He assured Gatomon, who looked frightened. "A-and it won't damage the baby in any way?" She asked worriedly. "I promise." Joe replied with a comforting look. "Let's see..." Patamon grabbed Gatomon's paw and started rubbing it in order to keep her calm. "Don't worry." He whispered. "You're both going to be alright." Gatomon gulped and nodded. "There it is." Joe said. Patamon and Gatomon both looked at the monitor. "There it is!" Patamon said, and pointed at the screen. There was a tiny fetus that had yet to take a proper shape. It had tiny limbs, and it's ears or tail hadn't yet taken a proper shape, making it impossible to tell whether it was a Patamon or a Gatomon. "It's... It's our little baby..." Gatomon said, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "At this point, it's pretty much impossible to tell the gender of the baby." Joe stated. "But right there, you can see the heartbeat..." "This... This is beautiful." Patamon muttered. "The baby seems to be alright." Joe said happily.

"So... The pregnancy happened in January, am I correct?" Joe said while looking at the monitor. "Yeah, that was the only time we did... It, and didn't use any protection." Gatomon said. "Well, the baby seems to be alright." Joe said happily, and Gatomon sat back up. "You should come back here around the 20th week. Then I should be able to tell the sex of your baby." "Alright then. Thanks, Joe." Patamon thanked. "It was a pleasure to help you." Joe said as he opened the door for them. T.K. and Kari were sitting in the hallway, waiting for the two. "Aah, there you are." T.K. said. "So, how'd it go?" Kari wondered. "Fine." Gatomon replied. "It was really cool to see our baby for the first time, even if it's not fully developed yet." Patamon stated. "Thanks a lot, Joe." T.K. thanked Joe. "Don't mention it." Joe replied with a grin. "I'm just doing my job, and a favour for my friends too." "See ya!" Kari said as she, T.K, Patamon and Gatomon started leaving the hospital. "Bye!" Joe replied. "We saw it's heart beating." Patamon said to T.K. and Kari. "It was such a small thing... It had tiny limbs, and it looked like it was asleep." "Hey, calm down buddy!" T.K. said, and chuckled lightly. "Sorry, I'm just so excited." Patamon apologized.

After going back to T.K's apartment, T.K. opened the gate to the Digital World so Patamon and Gatomon could go back home. "See you tomorrow." Kari said, and hugged Gatomon. "Bye!" Patamon said, and high-fived with T.K. before he and Gatomon stepped into the Digital World. "They look so happy..." Kari muttered, and sighed quietly. "I know." T.K. said. "It must be great to become a parent." "You know, I've been wanting my own children for a long time now..." Kari whispered to his ear, sounding rather seductive. "D-don't you think it's a little too, umm, early?" T.K. asked nervously. "I-I mean, we're barely even 16, and-" "Silly you." Kari said, and playfully poked T.K's nose. "I don't mean now, but I want to become a mother in the future." "I see what you mean." T.K. said. "I want to be a parent as well." Kari looked at the clock. "I guess I'd better get going now." She said. "I'll walk you home." T.K. said, and handed Kari her coat. "My sweet Angel of Hope." Kari said gently, and gave T.K. a kiss.

When night fell in the Digital World, Patamon looked thoughtful again. He was sitting in the kitchen, eating bread and looking out the window. Gatomon had just finished doing the dishes. "Man..." She yawned, and stretched her arms. "I think I'm going to bed. You?" "Huh?" Patamon wondered, and looked at her. "What is it this time?" Gatomon asked after noticing the look on Patamon's face. "O-oh, nothing." Patamon said quickly. Gatomon looked suspicious, but didn't say anything. "Good night-" She said, and was about to step upstairs. "It's a girl." Patamon said, and Gatomon stopped dead in her tracks. "Excuse me?" She wondered. "The baby." Patamon said. "It's going to be a girl." "How do you know that?" Gatomon asked. Patamon hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "The dream." He explained. "About you, and the baby. I just remembered; It was a girl." "I see." Gatomon muttered, but Patamon noticed that she didn't believe him. "Oh, look at the time." He said, and stood up. "I think we should go to bed now. Right, little fella?" He spoke to Gatomon's belly. Gatomon giggled and shook her head as she and Patamon went into their bedroom. "G'night." Patamon said. "Good night." Gatomon replied, and they both fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Week number 10 of Gatomon's pregnancy. She and Patamon were having a walk in the File Island, since she was getting tired of staying indoors and wanted some fresh air. Patamon agreed, saying that a little walk would be good for all three of them. "The Digital World is so beautiful..." Gatomon sighed. "I agree." Patamon said. "Times like this are kinda rare, especially to us." Gatomon looked at her belly, and smiled. "Maybe we'll finally have peace for good." She said optimistically. "I wouldn't be so sure about it." Patamon said. "Anything could happen here, I know that by experience-" "Hey, is that Veemon over there?" Gatomon wondered. Patamon looked around, and spotted Veemon nearby. With him was another Veemon: A female one. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She said to Veemon. "Alright then." Veemon replied. "Bye." The female Veemon smiled, and gave Veemon a kiss to the cheek before leaving. Veemon had a smug grin on his face as he was about to go. "HEEEY!" Gatomon yelled before Patamon could stop her. "Veemon! Over here!" "Gatomon, maybe we shouldn t-" Patamon started, but Gatomon just yelled louder. "VEEMON!"

"E-eh?" Veemon wondered, and looked around until he spotted Gatomon and a hesitant-looking Patamon walking towards him. "O, oh!" He said, and chuckled nervously. "Hello there, Gatomon and Patamon! H-how is the pregnancy going?" "Oh, fine, thanks for asking." Gatomon replied. "Umm... Gatomon and I were just having a walk when she spotted you, and we decided to come and say hi." Patamon said. "Who was that?" Gatomon asked veemon. "Who?" Veemon wondered. "That other Veemon who was here with you just a moment ago." Gatomon said. "O-oh!" Veemon exclaimed. "You mean Vanessa? Aah, she's an old friend of mine." "A friend." Gatomon repeated, and looked skeptical. "Uh huh." "Y-yeah." Veemon said, and put his hands behind his head. "We've known one another for quite a long time now. I once rescued her from a rampaging Monochromon, and she in turn helped me when I nearly drowned." "I see." Gatomon muttered. "Funny how you've never mentioned her to us." "Gatomon, maybe we should go." Patamon whispered. He wanted to save Veemon from this embarrassing situation. "Look!" He shouted, and pointed away. "Myotismon!" "Where?" Gatomon gasped, and looked around.

"Go!" Patamon moved his lips. Veemon nodded, and started running away. "See ya later!" He said. "Bye!" Patamon replied and waved at him. "There was no Myotismon there-" Gatomon started. "Hey, where did Veemon go?" "He, umm, had some unfinished business to do." Patamon said innocently. "That was... Her, wasn't she?" Gatomon asked Patamon. "What do you mean?" Patamon wondered, trying to sound like he didn't know what she was talking about. "Come on." Gatomon said. "That's Veemon's girlfriend, right?" "Umm..." Patamon mumbled. "M... Maybe." "Why won't Veemon tell us the truth?" Gatomon wondered. "Ehh... H-he said he's afraid that we'll laugh at him." Patamon explained. "What?" Gatomon exclaimed. "Why would anyone laugh at VEEMON for having a girlfriend? I'd be more shocked if he didn't have one! I mean, just by his personality and what he talks about you'd think he's got like a hundred girls-" "There's your problem." Patamon said. "Veemon doesn't want to know that Vanessa's the only girl he's ever been with. He, he doesn't want to lose his title or something." "That's just stupid." Gatomon stated. "That's what I said to him, too." Patamon said. "Just promise you won't tell anyone, okay?" "My lips are sealed." Gatomon replied as they started going back home.

In the human world, T.K. was in his room, lying on his back on his bed. He tossed a basketball in the air, and caught the ball as it landed. T.K. sighed quietly: He looked rather down and apathetic. He heard the front door opening, and the voices of his mother and someone else. "Oh, hello there!" Nancy Takaishi greeted the guest. "Hi." The visitor replied, and T.K. realized who it was. "Kari..." He mumbled, but didn't bother to sit up. "Is T.K. home?" Kari wondered. "He's in his room." Nancy explained, and T.K. heard footsteps nearing his door. "T.K?" Kari asked, and knocked on the door. "It's me! Can I come on in?" "...Sure." T.K. muttered, and Kari stepped in. "Hello there." Kari said. "Hi." T.K. greeted her as she walked next to him. "What is it?" "I just wanted to see you." Kari explained. "Can I sit down?" "Sure." T.K. replied, and tossed the ball again as Kari sat down on the bed. "I haven't seen you in two days." Kari started. "I've been worried about you. And so have been Matt and the rest of the DigiDestined and Patamon and-" "Yeah, I bet he has." T.K. said bitterly, emphasizing on the word 'bet' and tossing the basketball in the air again. "What's wrong?" Kari asked him.

"Patamon..." T.K. started. "He's changed so much in such a short time." "Aah." Kari said: She meant quite well what T.K. was talking about. "I've always thought that I'd age as fast as him." T.K. muttered. "But now... Patamon's going to be a father soon, and I'm still just a teen..." The two stayed silent for a moment. "I can still remember, when I was a kid and we were in the Digital World for the first time... Patamon and I used to play together a lot, whenever we weren't busy fighting evil. He understood me better than most others could. We argued sometimes, perhaps more than the others did, but we always apologized and stayed as friends." "T.K..." Kari whispered. "He's turned from playful and happy to responsible and serious." T.K. sighed. "I don't want to lose him, Kari. Patamon's my best friend. You and Matt are the only ones who are more important to me than him." "Oh, T.K." Kari said, and hugged carefully hugged T.K. "There's nothing you have to worry about. Patamon may have matured, but the two of you will always stay as best friends." "You think so?" T.K. asked, and Kari nodded. "Of course." She replied. "The bond between the two of you is so deep nothing can destroy it. Not even death."

"Thanks, Kari." T.K. thanked Kari. "I... I'm an idiot." "No you're not." Kari said. "You're just worried, which is completely normal". "I should have realized that right now, Gatomon needs Patamon way more than I do." "It's okay, I haven't fully understood myself that Gatomon's pregnant." Kari stated. "It's such a hard thing to comprehend. Patamon and Gatomon have usually acted like two kids, but now they're about to be parents." T.K. said. "Yeah, and we should support them as much as we can." Kari said. "You're right." T.K replied. "Maybe we should go see them. I haven't seen Patamon in two days-" Suddenly, the phone rang. "T.K, it's for you!" Nancy yelled from the living room. T.K. jumped up, and rushed to the living room where his mom handed the phone to him. "Hello, this is T.K. speaking." He said to the phone. "Hiya, T.K!" Patamon's voice said from the other end. "Patamon?" T.K. asked out of shock. "Hi! I was about to come there-" "Listen, is Kari with you?" Patamon asked. "Yeah, we're at my place." T.K. replied. "Great." Patamon said in a relieved tone. "Umm... Could you do a favour for me?" "Anything you want, buddy." T.K. said gently.

"Well..." Patamon started. "I need Kari and you to distract Gatomon for a while. I need to do one thing, and I don't want Gatomon to find out about it..." "I see." T.K. said. "Thank you so much." Patamon thanked. "See you soon!" "Bye." T.K. replied, and hung up. "Who was it?" Kari asked T.K. as he returned back to his room. "Patamon." T.K. explained. "We have to keep Gatomon busy for a while. Patamon's planning something, and he doesn't want Gatomon to find out what." "I see." Kari muttered. "Well, let's get going then!" T.K. nodded, took out his Digivice, and pointed it at his computer screen. The two were sucked into the Digital World. Luckily, there was a portal near Patamon's and Gatomon's house. "Umm, Gatomon?" Patamon started. "Yes?" Gatomon wondered. She was reading some sort of magazine. "T.K. and Kari are coming here." Patamon explained. "Kari will keep you company while T.K. and I are gone." "Where are you going?" Gatomon asked, sounding slightly absent. "Err..." Patamon said. He looked around, until he spotted the cover of another magazine on the table. "B-bowling." He said with his fingers crossed behind his back. "We're going bowling." "Okay then." Gatomon muttered, and Patamon sighed out of relief.

Someone knocked on the door, and Patamon went to open. Outside were standing T.K. and Kari. "Hi, Patamon!" Kari said. "Hi guys!" Patamon greeted them. "So... What's the plan?" T.K. asked. "Just play along." Patamon whispered, and Kari stepped into the house. "Hello, mommy!" Kari greeted Gatomon, who giggled lightly. "Hello there." She replied. "Umm, T.K. and I will be going now!" Patamon said. "Okay, have fun!" Gatomon said, and Patamon gave her a small kiss before he and T.K. left. "Thank you so much." Patamon thanked T.K. as they started going. "It was nothing." T.K. replied. "Although if you do want to thank me that much, I'd like to hear what you're planning to do." "Umm, I-I'd like to keep it secret..." Patamon muttered. "And I will keep it as one." T.K. stated. "Come on, you can trust me. We're pals, right?" "O, okay then..." Patamon gulped. "I... I'm going to buy a ring." "A ring?" T.K. asked. "But she got her old one back, remember?" "I don't mean a tail ring." Patamon said. "I mean a special kind of ring. A... A-an engagement ring." T.K. looked totally shocked. "An engagement ring?" He yelped. "Shh!" Patamon whispered.

You... You're going to marry her?" T.K. asked. "Yes." Patamon replied. "Now that we're going to have a child, I think it's better for her that we get married." "You seem to be confident that it's going to be a she..." T.K. stated. "I could bet my right arm about it." Patamon said with a confident smile. The two kept on going, but neither said anything for a while. Patamon noticed that T.K. glanced at him every once in a while. "What are ya looking at, T.K?" Patamon asked T.K. "Oh, n-nothing." T.K. said, trying to sound innocent. "Hey, you can tell me." Patamon encouraged him. "I just... You've changed so much." T.K. said. "That's what Gatomon has been telling me, too." Patamon said. "Is it a bad thing?" "N-no, of course not." T.K. replied quickly. "It's just that, I... I'm afraid that you'll outgrow me." "Me?" Patamon exclaimed. "Outgrow YOU? Ahahahaha..." "W-what are you laughing about?" T.K. asked and blushed slightly. "Sorry..." Patamon apologized while still chuckling a little. "I just have always been worried that YOU'll be the one who outgrows ME once you're an adult." "Yeah, I know." T.K. said, and was now smiling. "Let's promise that we'll never outgrow one another." Patamon suggested, and offered his paw to T.K. "It's a deal." T.K. said, and shook hands with Patamon.

"Aah, here we are!" Patamon said after they arrived at a jewelry shop. "Will you come with me or do you want to stay inside?" "Hmm..." T.K. mumbled. "I think I'll come with you. Maybe I can buy something for Kari." The two entered the shop, and looked around. There were golden medallions, necklaces, rings, earrings and other kinds of jewellery as far as the eye can see. "Whoa..." T.K. said in awe. "This should be a perfect place to find a ring for Gatomon." Patamon stated happily, and started searching the store. "Can I help you?" Asked the shop clerk: A Meramon wearing an apron. "Umm, I'm looking for rings." Patamon said. "Aah, the rings are over here." The clerk said, and showed Patamon the showcase where the rings were. "Hmm..." Patamon muttered, and looked closely. "There." He said, and pointed at one of the rings. "That's the perfect one." "An excellent choice." The clerk said, opened the showcase, and took the ring to the counter. Patamon handed him the money, and the clerk gave Patamon the ring inside a small box. "Thank you, please come again." The shop clerk said, and Patamon headed towards the door. However, T.K. was still looking at the showcases. "T.K?" Patamon asked. "Oh, you can go wait outside." T.K. said. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Well, what did you get for her?" Patamon asked T.K. after he came out of the jewelry shop. "Oh, just a small present to keep her happy." T.K. said with a smug smile as he tossed a small box in the air and caught it as it landed. "I hope that Gatomon won't suspect anything..." Patamon muttered worriedly. "I'm sure she won't." T.K. said confidently. After a while of walking they finally arrived at Patamon's house. "Thank you one more time." Patamon thanked. "Anything for you, daddy-o." T.K. replied with a grin. "We're back!" Patamon yelled after opening the door. "Well, how was it?" Gatomon asked. "Oh, it was nice." Patamon replied, looked at T.K. and winked. "T.K. won the game, he got three strikes in a row." "Y-yeah." T.K. said. "Well, I guess we should go home now." Kari said, and stood up. "It was nice chatting with you." "Thanks, same goes for you." Gatomon said. "Well, see you later." "Bye!" Patamon said. "Behave yourselves!" Kari said jokingly as she and T.K. left. "So... What did you and Gatomon talk about?" T.K. asked. "Oh, nothing special." Kari replied. "Well, what was the big secret Patamon's planning?" "Sorry, I can't tell you." T.K. said. "My lips are sealed." "Oh, come on!" Kari begged.

"Sorry, I can't." T.K. said. "However, I do have something for you." He took out a small box, and handed it to Kari. Kari opened the box, and gasped: Inside were a pair of golden earrings, with the Crest of Light engraved in them. "T.K..." Kari said in awe. "These are beautiful." "Nothing's too beautiful for my angel." T.K. stated, and Kari gave him a kiss. "Now then..." Patamon thought, hiding the ring behind his back. "Where am I gonna hide this thing?" "Is everything alright?" Gatomon asked him. "Yeah, I'm all fine." Patamon replied. "I'm going to take a shower." Gatomon said, and stood up from the couch she was sitting on. "How about I join you?" Patamon said, trying to sound allusive. "No thanks, I think it's too early for us to have twins." Gatomon joked, and they both laughed. "Phew..." Patamon sighed after Gatomon had gone to the bathroom. "Now then..." He looked around in the kitchen, and noticed that one of the closets was open. He pulled a chair underneath the closet, and climbed on it. He grabbed a jar of sugar from the topmost shelf. "Here..." He thought, opened the jar, hid the box containing the ring in the sugar, closed the jar and hid it into the deepest corners of the closet. He shut the closet and jumped down from the chair. "I don't know when I'm going to do it..." Patamon started. "But one day... One day I am going to marry her."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

12th week of Gatomon's pregnancy. Morning sickness had finally stopped, and in turn Gatomon had became more energetic. Her belly was now noticeably larger, and her appetite had now grown because she now didn't have to throw up almost every day. Gatomon and a hesitant Patamon had started a major housecleaning. Gatomon had cleaned downstairs thrice until Patamon tried to convince her to take a break, saying that she shouldn't wear herself as it would be bad for the baby. "But I don't feel tired at all!" Gatomon stated. "I'm feeling all... All..." She suddenly dozed off while standing, and Patamon quickly placed her on a couch. "Phew, finally some peace and quiet..." He thought, and sighed. "I didn't know Gatomon had this much energy, especially considering that she's pregnant and all." He looked at the sleeping Gatomon for a while. "She sleeps like an angel..." Patamon thought, stroke her head gently and smiled. All of a sudden, he yawned. "Mmh..." Patamon mumbled. "It's so relaxing to see a sleeping digimon. I'm getting all sleepy myself..." He yawned again, moved Gatomon slightly so that they both would fit on the couch, and lay down on the couch. "Sweet dreams, my Digikitty." He whispered to Gatomon before falling asleep.

In Gatomon's dream, Gatomon had just finished doing the dishes, and now headed to the living room where the baby was sleeping in a baby carriage. "Who's my little angel?" She asked the baby in a babbling way. "You are!" The baby said nothing, but laughed loudly, making Gatomon smile widely. "Hmm, your father has not returned yet..." Gatomon said after taking a look at the clock. "Oh well, maybe he just got stuck in the store." The baby babbled something, and waved it's tiny paws. "How about we go outside?" Gatomon suggested. "I think a walk in the park would be good for you." The baby babbled in an even more excited way. "Looks like it's settled then." Gatomon said, and pushed the carriage outside. After a while of walking, the two had finally arrived at the park. "Mmm, it's a beautiful day." Gatomon murmured. "We chose a perfect day for a small walk..." Gatomon sat down on a park bench while holding the baby carriage in front of her. She looked around, and spotted that many other mother digimon and their babies were in the park. "I wish things would always be like this..." Gatomon wished as the wind gently blew on her face.

Meanwhile, in Patamon's dream, Patamon was resting under a tree with T.K. lying on the other side of the tree. "Aah..." Patamon said. "This is the life! Right, T.K?" "Yeah..." T.K. replied, and stretched his arms. "Moments like these have been rare for us." "Yeah, but that was back then." Patamon said happily. "Nowadays, we've got more free time than ever!" "Yeah, but I think it's a bit boring..." T.K. sighed. "I'd be in a mood for adventure." "I know what you mean." Patamon said. "Even a little adventure every once in a while would be enough." T.K. stated. "I dunno..." Patamon said. "I wouldn't want to get into too much of a danger. I don't want to leave Gatomon..." "I understand." T.K. said. "I wouldn't want to die and leave Kari alone, either." "I know." Patamon muttered. "We sure are lucky to have such wonderful girlfriends." "Speaking of," T.K. started. "When are you gonna propose to Gatomon?" "U-umm, I'm not sure yet..." Patamon admitted. "I'll do it soon enough, there's plenty of time." "Yeah, you're right..." T.K. said. "It's such a nice day..." Patamon muttered. "I hope things would always be like this..."

"Hmm?" Gatomon wondered, and looked up: The sky was covered with black clouds. "Look like it's going to rain... Maybe we should go back home-" Suddenly, a red lightning bolt struck the ground right next to her and the baby. "EEK!" Gatomon screamed, and fell off the park bench. "Bwaaah!" The baby cried. "It's okay..." Gatomon whispered to the baby. "There's nothing to be afraid about." Gatomon heard some sort of flapping sounds, and looked around, spotting bats flying around. "Uh-oh..." She muttered, and the baby started crying harder. "Shh..." Gatomon hushed. "Everything's going to be alright-" "Do you think so?" A cold voice taunted her. Gatomon gasped: Chills went down her spine. "That voice..." She muttered, and turned around slowly, spotting a familiar vampire-like figure standing nearby. "Myotismon!" Myotismon smiled evilly. "No..." Gatomon gasped. "This can't be... You're supposed to be dead." "Looks like not." Myotismon said. "Crimson Lightning!" "Uugh!" Gatomon grunted as Myotismon whipped her aside. He then approached the carriage, and grabbed the baby, who cried hard. "Leave her alone, you sick freak..!" Gatomon muttered. "If you want to see your baby again, follow me." Myotismon said, and took off. Gatomon's anger and the worry about the baby was enough to make her digivolve to Angewomon. "Don't worry." She thought. "I'll be there right away." She took off herself, and started looking for Myotismon.

Suddenly, the wind started blowing hard, almost blowing Patamon and T.K. away. "Whoa!" Patamon yelled. "What's going on?" "I think a storm is approaching." T.K. said. "Maybe we should get going." "I hope Gatomon's alright..." Patamon said worriedly. "She's always been afraid of lightings on some level... I shouldn't have left her on her own-" "Don't worry." Someone said. "There's not going to be a storm... Just a nightmare that I have prepared for you." Patamon and T.K. both looked, and spotted a familiar figure sitting on a nearby cliff. "Devimon..." T.K. muttered out of shock." "B-but, this is i-impossible!" Patamon stuttered nervously. "Y-y-you died years ago!" "Fool." Devimon scolded him. "I'm a digimon, I can come back whenever I want. Now then..." He turned his head and looked at T.K. "I'll do something I should have done years ago." He reached out and tried to get T.K. in his grasp. "Stop!" Patamon shouted, digivolved into Angemon, and knocked Devimon back. "Ungh!" Devimon grunted. "T.K, run." Angemon said. "B-but I can't leave you on your own!" T.K. yelped. "Please T.K." Angemon asked. "I don't want anything bad happen to you." T.K. gulped, nodded and started running away. "Fine..." Devimon mumbled with a devious grin. "Let him go. YOU are the one I want to get." "Let's settle this for good!" Angemon said, and lunged towards Devimon.

"Where did he go?" Angewomon wondered while searching around for Myotismon. "If he dares to hurt my little baby, I'll rip him into a million pieces!" Soon, she heard a faint cry nearby. "There!" Angewomon thought, having finally located Myotismon and her baby. "Hmph... You came." Myotismon said. "Give me back my baby!" Angewomon shouted. "Or else what?" Myotismon asked. Angewomon growled, and fired a Celestial Arrow at Myotismon, who merely jumped aside to dodge it. The baby was lying in some sort of nest, and was bawling loudly. "What did you do to her?" Angewomon asked Myotismon. "Absolutely nothing... Yet." Myotismon said, turned at the baby and grinned. "Y-you wouldn't dare!" Angewomon said, but Myotismon grinned even more. "Grisly Wing!" He summoned a swarm of bats that flew towards the baby. "No!" Angewomon screamed, and jumped in between the baby and the bats, managing to block the attack with her powers of light. "That's it!" She shouted. "You are getting no mercy this time!" "Bring it on." Myotismon taunted her. "Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon created a cross-shaped beam of light that she fired towards Myotismon, who blocked it with his cape. "Fool." Myotismon said, and used a Crimson Lightning to strangle Angewomon. "Ghah..." She gasped. "I can't... Breathe..."

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon shouted as he fired a golden beam of light from his fist at Devimon, who countered it with his palms. "What the-!" Angemon exclaimed. "You pitiful weakling." Devimon scolded him. "Can't you do any better than that?" "Something's wrong..." Angemon thought. "He wasn't this strong before... Something's changed." "You know," Devimon started, and took out his claws. "I think you would make for a great slave." "Eh?" Angemon wondered. "Touch of Evil!" Devimon tried to impale Angemon, who managed to react just in time to use his rod to block Devimon's claws. Devimon smirked, and flew into the shadows. "Hehehe... How about this?" He asked Angemon. "I can always hide in the shadows, and sneak up when you least expect it... You puny warriors of light may never achieve such feats." "We don't have to!" Angemon exclaimed. "I don't rely on brainwashing or sneak attacks or anything like that! Powers of light shall always vanquish darkness!" "Maybe," Devimon said. "Unless darkness manages to absorb every particle of light inside!" He leaped from the shadows, and punched Angemon hard, sending him flying towards a nearby mountain.

"Eurgh!" Angemon grunted as he hit the mountain. "Eh?" Angewomon wondered. "What was that?" Myotismon asked. Angemon fell to the ground, almost unconscious. "Angemon!" Angewomon yelled, and landed to help her partner. "Ah... Angewomon..?" Angemon muttered. "Well, well." Myotismon said. "What do we have here? Another puny angel!" Angewomon quickly healed Angemon, who jumped back up. "Thanks." Angemon thanked. "But... What are you doing here?" "I could ask the same thing from you." Angewomon replied. "I was fighting Myotismon when you flew here all of a sudden-" "Myotismon?" Angemon gasped, and spotted Myotismon floating nearby. "Why is he here?" "I don't know." Angewomon said. "But he kidnapped our baby. That's why I'm-" "WHAT?" Angemon yelled. "Our baby?" "Yes." Angewomon said and nodded. Angemon glared at Myotismon. "You... You..." He whispered. "WATCH OUT!" Angewomon screamed, and pushed Angemon to the ground: Devimon had fired a black-and-red beam at Angemon that just barely missed. "Oh no, Devimon's back too?" Angewomon asked worriedly. "Hmm..." Myotismon said. "Say, how about the two of us team up?" "I accept." Devimon replied, and shook hands with Myotismon. "Just remember, Angemon is mine!" "As you wish, but then I'll get Angewomon." Myotismon said, and the two fired their attacks at Angemon and Angewomon.

"Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon used the cross shape as a shield to protect Angemon and herself. "Hand of Fate!" Angemon fired a beam of light at Devimon and Myotismon from behind the shield. Myotismon brushed the beam away lazily. "Watch out." Angewomon warned Angemon. "Myotismon's somehow gotten stronger." "The same goes for Devimon." Angemon stated. "We have to defeat them, Angewomon. Otherwise, the Digital World will fall under the powers of darkness." "Ha!" Devimon cackled. "What do you lovebirds think you can do? You are no match to the likes of us!" "We'll see about that..." Angemon muttered. "Hand of Fate!" "Celestial Arrow!" The two Angel digimon launched their attacks towards Devimon and Myotismon. "Death Hand!" "Grisly Wing!" Devimon and Myotismon countered with their own attacks, causing a minor explosion that sent Angemon and Angewomon flying towards the mountain. Angemon grabbed Angewomon's arm, and started flapping his arms rapidly, saving them from getting crushed against the mountain. "Are you alright?" Angemon asked Angewomon. "I-I'm fine-" Angewomon said. Devimon and Myotismon had fired their attacks again, this time hitting Angemon and Angewomon full force.

"G... Ghaah..." Angemon gasped, dedigivolved back to Patamon and fell towards the ground alongside Gatomon. Myotismon laughed victoriously. "N... No..." Patamon mumbled. "T, this can't be..." Gatomon said, and a tear dropped from her eye. "The darkness has finally WON!" Devimon exclaimed. "Patamon..." Gatomon started. "I, I'm sorry-" "Hey, it's not your fault..." Patamon said, and flinched. "At least w-we tried our best." ' "Hmph, still alive huh?" Myotismon said. "Let's finish them off so they will never mess with our plans again." Devimon suggested. "Well, this is it..." Patamon said. "Gatomon, I love you." "Patamon..." Gatomon whispered. Patamon grabbed Gatomon's paw, and shared a kiss with her. "We might soon be dead," Patamon said. "But our love shall be eternal." "You're right." Gatomon said with a smile. "Hmph, disgusting..." Myotismon said. He and Devimon charged their attacks one more time, preparing to finish off Patamon and Gatomon for good. Suddenly, the baby of Patamon and Gatomon started crying even harder. The area was covered in bright light that momentarily blinded Devimon and Myotismon. "Uh?" Patamon wondered. "This... Power..." Gatomon muttered, and the two suddenly Warp Digivolved to Seraphimon and Magnadramon.

"What?" Myotismon yelped. "Damn it!" Devimon cursed after seeing what was going on. "...You lost." Seraphimon stated. "We'll see about that!" Myotismon said. "Mega digimon or not, the powers of darkness shall prevail!" "Fool." Magnadramon scolded him. "Let's teach them a lesson, my love." "As you wish." Seraphimon said. "Hallowed Knuckle!" "Fire Tornado!" Their attacks pierced through Devimon's and Myotismon's chests, killing the two almost instantly. "Noo..." Devimon wailed. "This can't be..." Myotismon said as they faded into digital bits. Seraphimon and Magnadramon dedigivolved back to Patamon and Gatomon, and they rushed towards their baby, who was back to normal now. "Thank goodness she's okay." Patamon sighed out of relief. "She... She saved our lives." Gatomon muttered. The baby wasn't crying anymore: She had fallen asleep after Patamon and Gatomon had digivolved. Gatomon took the baby in her arms, and Patamon smiled: The baby was a white female Patamon with purple stripes across her body. "Our daughter..." He whispered, looked at Gatomon, and gave her a kiss. "She's so beautiful..." "You know," Gatomon started. "Maybe it'd be better for us to wake up." "Eh?" Patamon wondered. "This place is starting to fade away." Gatomon said. "Right. Well, see you soon." Patamon said, and closed his eyes. "Bye..." Gatomon muttered, and did the same thing.

Patamon woke up in their house. He yawned, and looked at Gatomon, who still looked like she was still asleep. "Hi there." He whispered, and gently stroke Gatomon's head. "We did it!" Gatomon cheered all of a sudden. "Whoa!" Patamon yelped, and fell off the couch. "Oof!" He groaned after hitting the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry about that." Gatomon apologized. "It's alright." Patamon replied with a gentle smile. "You're right, we did it." "That... Was truly a strange dream." Gatomon muttered. "It felt almost like it was real." "Maybe it was real?" Patamon suggested. "I doubt it," Gatomon said. "But it sure was weird how we shared the same dream in the end." "I think that it proves the bond between us." Patamon stated. He looked at Gatomon's belly. "Thanks, little fella." He whispered. "You saved our lives." "Silly." Gatomon giggled. "Well, at least it proved my case." Patamon said with a victorious smile. "Eh?" Gatomon wondered. "You called the baby a she in our dream, didn't you?" Patamon said. "Y-yeah, but..." Gatomon started. "It was only a dream. The baby could just as well be a boy." "Well, we'll see in a couple months." Patamon said with a shrug. "We shouldn't argue about things like this. I love you." "I love you too." Gatomon said before sharing a kiss with Patamon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Week number 15 of the pregnancy. Patamon had just woken up, and the first thing he noticed was that he was sleeping downstairs, on a couch. "Euugh..." He groaned. Patamon felt terrible: He had a major headache, and he was about to throw up. "My head..." He wailed. "What the heck happened last night? I... I..." He grabbed an empty bucket nearby, and vomited. He heard someone coming downstairs: It was Gatomon. "O-oh, good morning honey." Patamon greeted her with a weak smile, but Gatomon just glared at him coldly. "...Morning." She muttered as she walked into the kitchen. "Oww... Gatomon, do we have anything that can cure headache? I feel horrible..." "Nope, sorry." Gatomon stated. "And even if we did, your bad condition is all your fault." "W-what do you-" Patamon started, but had to throw up again. "Ghah... What do you mean?" "Do you remember anything about what happened last night?" Gatomon asked him. "N-no..." Patamon said, and held his head. "I don' t remember one thing." "Too bad." Gatomon said. "I bet you'd like to know about all the fun things you did while drunk."

"What?" Patamon exclaimed. "What are you talking about, Gatomon?" "Nothing special." Gatomon said. "Only that you were drunk off your tail when you came back here last night, that's all." Patamon almost fell off the couch out of shock. "No... He gasped. "T... This can't be real... I have to be dreaming!" He pinched his arm, but he felt it quite well. "Ow! Okay, so this is not a dream... But how can I trust your word-" He threw up again, and looked slightly green. "I guess that goes for evidence." Gatomon said. "No..." Patamon weeped. "No! How could I have done such a thing?" He looked at Gatomon. "D-did I hurt you? Or the baby?" "Nope." Gatomon said. "I didn't give you a chance to do so." "Oh, thank goodness..." Patamon sighed out of relief. "If something had happened to you, I would've never forgiven myself." "Patamon..." Gatomon muttered. She started feeling bad for him, and grabbed a bottle that was standing on a shelf. "Here." She said, and handed the bottle to Patamon. "It's a cure for hangover." Patamon looked at the bottle for a while before taking a sip. "Phew." He said. "Thanks, that sure helped. Although I still remember absolutely nothing..." "I do." Gatomon said, and sighed. "I remember way too well..."

****FLASHBACK*****

"How does it feel?" Patamon asked Gatomon as he massaged her back. "Wonderful..." Gatomon murmured. "You're so good at this." "Your fur is so soft." Patamon stated. He moved his paws up on Gatomon's back, and was now rubbing her neck. "Oh yeah, just like that..." Gatomon whispered. Patamon soon stopped, but Gatomon just purred happily. "Feeling better now?" Patamon asked her. "Yeah, thanks." Gatomon thanked. "My back was killing me a moment ago." "You should rest now." Patamon said. "Just sit down and relax, I'll do the dishes." "Oh, you're so sweet..." Gatomon said as Patamon headed to the kitchen. "I spoke with Biyomon and Palmon some time ago, and they said they're jealous because of how helpful and caring partner I've got." "R-really..." Patamon said, and blushed briefly. Gatomon then looked at her belly. "I wonder how you are feeling." She whispered, although she knew the baby probably couldn't hear what she said. "I bet she's doing just fine." Patamon said. "She's going to be a strong digimon one day. She's our child, after all." "Yeah..." Gatomon muttered with a smile.

Someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it." Patamon said as Gatomon was about to sit up, and went to open the door. "Yo, Patamon!" Someone said. Behind the door were Veemon, Agumon and Gabumon. "Oh, hi guys!" Patamon greeted them. "Please come on in! What are you three doing around here?" "You'll see soon enough." Agumon replied with a grin. "Hello there, Gatomon!" Gabumon said to Gatomon. "Hello." Gatomon replied from the living room. "'Kay then Patamon, are ya ready to go?" Veemon asked Patamon. "Umm, t-to go where?" Patamon wondered. "Don't tell me you don't know!" Veemon exclaimed. "Sheesh, what kind of digimon are you?" "We're gonna have a guys' night out as a celebration!" Agumon exclaimed. "Umm, what exactly are we celebrating then?" Patamon asked. "You, of course!" Veemon said. "It's an old digimon tradition." Gabumon explained to Patamon. "When two digimon have their first baby, and the mother is 15 weeks pregnant, a small celebration is thrown for the father because of the upcoming fatherhood. It's similar to a bachelor party." "Sounds cool!" Patamon said, and looked excited. "Can I go, Gatomon?" "Of course." Gatomon replied with a smile. "It's not like I'm your mother or anything. Just don't do anything stupid." "Thanks, I won't." Patamon said, and shared a kiss with Gatomon before leaving with the other three males.

Gatomon had no idea what happened next, but this is how things went next: "Ha! I won!" Patamon exclaimed after beating Veemon, Gabumon and Agumon in a bowling match. "Congrats Patamon, you're truly a professional at this." Agumon stated. "Well, I don't know about that." Patamon muttered. "I just got lucky, that's all." "Man, I'm getting all thirsty." Veemon said. "Let's get a couple drinks for ourselves." "Good idea." Gabumon said, and the four headed towards the bar that was in the bowling alley. "Good evening." The bartender greeted them. "What will you take?" "A pear cider, please." Gabumon said. "I'd like a Long Island Iced Tea." Agumon said, and licked his lips. "One beer, please." Veemon asked. "Umm... I-I'll take a glass of water." Patamon said. "With ice." "Oh, c'mon Patamon." Veemon said. "Aren't ya gonna drink?" "Y-yes I am." Patamon replied. "You know what I mean." Veemon said. "Err, I, I don't drink." Patamon stated. "Hey, you're an adult already!" Veemon said. "Come on, one beer won't hurt, now, will it?" "B-but, Gatomon will kill me if she finds out..." Patamon muttered. "You don't have to tell her." Agumon said. Patamon hesitated for a moment, until he eventually gave up. "Ohh, alright then." He sighed. "O-one beer, p-p-please." The bartender soon handed them their drinks. "Well, here goes..." Patamon thought, gulped, and took a sip from his bottle of beer.

Gatomon woke up in the middle of the night when someone rang the doorbell. "W-wha?" She wondered, and yawned. "Who the heck comes here at..." She grabbed the alarm clock. "2:30 A.M? Eurgh... Patamon, would you go open the door please?" However, after getting no reply, she looked at the bed next to her, and noticed that it was empty. "P-Patamon?" Gatomon whispered, and looked around. "He hasn't returned yet?" Someone rang the doorbell again. "W-what if something's happened to him?" Gatomon said with a terrified tone in her voice. "What if someone's kidnapped him, or he's injured, o-or-" The doorbell rang again. "Maybe that's a police officer who came to tell me that Patamon is... Is..." Gatomon quickly climbed out of her bed, rushed downstairs, and went to open the door. However, much to her surprise, it was Patamon who was standing outside. "Honey, I'm home!" Patamon exclaimed, and gave Gatomon a bunch of roses. "P-Patamon?" Gatomon asked, and Patamon gave her a big kiss that caught her off guard. "How's my beautiful Gatomon?" Patamon asked. Gatomon noticed that he sounded slightly weird, and that he wobbled a little. "And how is Papa's little girl?" Patamon said, and patted Gatomon's belly.

"Where have you been?" Gatomon asked Patamon. "I, I thought that something had happened to you!" "Hey, nothing can harm the Almighty Patamon, hehehe..." Patamon said. "Something's wrong..." Gatomon thought. "I know Patamon's usually very cheerful, but now he's just acting all goofy." Patamon hiccupped all of a sudden, and Gatomon looked shocked. "Oh, excuse me darling." Patamon said with a weird smile. "Patamon," Gatomon started. "Be honest with me. Have... Have you been drinking?" "I hope that I'm wrong, in Azulongmon's name..." She thought worriedly. "Well, I'd- *HIC!* -I'd be lying to you if I said 'no'..." Patamon said with a chuckle. Gatomon immediatly tackled Patamon on the ground, and held her claws one inch away from his face. She looked completely enraged. "G-Gatomon?" Patamon asked, now sounding slightly worried. "What's wrong-" "You PIG!" Gatomon growled, and slapped Patamon. "We're about to have a baby, I'm pregnant, and what do you do? You just go and get yourself drunk!" "I-I..." Patamon stuttered. "I don't believe it." Gatomon said quietly. "The one digimon I thought would be completely sober, the one digimon I thought would love me enough so that never drank in his entire life-" "P, please calm down." Patamon said, and hiccupped again. "I-it'll be bad for the baby if you don't."

Gatomon stood up, leaving Patamon lying on the ground, and headed towards the staircase. "Don't." She whispered after noticing that Patamon was going to follow her. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight. I don't want to see your face until you're sober again." "Gatomon..." Patamon whispered out of shock as Gatomon rushed upstairs, headed into the bedroom and aggressively slammed the door shut. Patamon shambled to the bathroom, and washed his face with cold water. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. "What have I done..." Patamon thought, and a tear rolled down his cheek. "H-have I completely terminated our relationship?" Patamon shook his head, and went to the kitchen. "...I need something to drink-" He started, but slapped himself in the face. "No Patamon, you're not gonna take any more... Any more..." Patamon couldn't help it: He grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and drank it empty. He burped slightly, headed to the living room, and went lying on the couch. "Maybe- *HICCUP!* Maybe things are better in the morning..." Patamon hoped, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

*****END FLASHBACK*****

"This is impossible." Patamon muttered with his face buried in his paws. "How could I have done such a thing?" "Hey Patamon, it's not that big deal-" Gatomon started, and stroke Patamon's back. "Yes it is!" Patamon said. "...I promise you, the both of you, and myself too, that I will never drink in my life again if I can just avoid it." "That's my Patamon." Gatomon said, and gave him a kiss. "I'll make up for this, I swear." Patamon said. "Patamon hey, you really don't have to do anything-" Gatomon started. "But I insist." Patamon interrupted her. "Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go, just name it and I'll make it happen." "Well, if you really insist..." Gatomon muttered. "I'd want to go visit my relatives, namely Gina." "Eh?" Patamon wondered. "I haven't seen her in such a long time." Gatomon stated. "I'm not sure if she even knows that I'm pregnant, even thought I wrote her a letter some time ago..." "If that's what you want." Patamon said with a smile. "Thank you so much." Gatomon thanked, and hugged Patamon tight. "Oof!" Patamon gasped, and Gatomon stopped hugging him. "Umm, sorry about that." Gatomon apologized with a small giggle. "It's okay, I really deserved that." Patamon stated, and they both laughed.

A couple days later, Patamon was taking a walk in the File Island when he all of a sudden came across Veemon. "Hiya, Patamon!" Veemon greeted him. "Hi." Patamon replied. "I've wanted to talk with you ever since the day before yesterday." Veemon stated. "Umm... How did things go after you returned back home?" "Well," Patamon started. "Gatomon sure taught me a lesson I'll never forget, but we're back to normal now." "Phew..." Veemon sighed out of relief. "I was afraid I'd ruin your relationship." "Well, no harm done." Patamon said with a comforting smile. "Listen, I'm sorry I encouraged you into drinking." Veemon apologized. "I would've never done so if I had thought about the consequences..." "Hey, it wasn't your fault." Patamon said. "I had no idea that I had such a small alcohol tolerance myself, either. I thought one bottle wouldn't do any harm." "So... How has it been now?" Veemon wondered. "Oh, just fine." Patamon replied. "Yesterday, we went to see Gatomon's relatives, and also went swimming, shopping and had dinner together." "Gee, Gatomon must've been really excited." Veemon muttered. "I've never seen such a delight on her face." Patamon stated. "Well, I have to get going now." "'kay." Veemon said. "Well, see ya later." "Bye!" Patamon replied, and started returning back home.

Later that day, Patamon and Gatomon went to a pregnancy group exercise class for digimon that was being held on the File Island. "Hmm, there seem to be a lot more pregnant digimon around here than I would've thought..." Gatomon whispered to Patamon. They spotted a pair of ExVeemon(one blue, one pink), Kabuterimon(one blue, one red), Gazimon, Impmon, Meramon, Guardromon, and many others. "Is it your first one?" The pink, female ExVeemon asked Patamon and Gatomon. "O-oh, yes." Gatomon replied. "Same here." The ExVeemon said, and looked at her husband. "We were pretty surprised to find out that they're twins." "I see." Patamon said. "Rex and I hope that they'll be both girls. Right?" The female ExVeemon said. "Y-yeah..." Her partner muttered, looking slightly embarrassed. "We're getting only one." Gatomon said. "Patamon's sure that it's going to be a girl." "We're having triplets." Said the red, female Kabuterimon who had joined the discussion. "Whoa, congratulations!" Gatomon said. "Thank you." The female Kabuterimon replied. "Okay then, let's begin everyone." Said the host of the pregnancy exercise.

"Well, what did you think about it?" Patamon asked Gatomon after the exercise ended. "It was nice." Gatomon replied. "Really refreshing. And it was nice to see other soon-to-be mother digimon there." "Maybe their children will become friends with ours." Patamon suggested with a smile. "That'd be great." Gatomon said. "And who knows, maybe our daughter will have some adventures of her own." Patamon said. "I hope that she'd live a relatively peaceful life." Gatomon wished. "I mean, we've already been through so much ourselves, I wouldn't want our child to risk his or her life too much..." "There's no chance for a peaceful life as long as it's going to be OUR kid." Patamon joked, making Gatomon chuckle. "Whoa, is it already half past nine in the evening? Time has really went fast..." "*YAWN* I agree." Patamon said, and rubbed his eyes. "I'm going to bed." Gatomon said. "What about you?" "I'll have to do one thing." Patamon explained. "I'll come in a minute." "Okay then." Gatomon said, and climbed upstairs. Patamon went to the kitchen, and grabbed a very familiar jar of sugar from the closet. He grabbed the box that was hidden in the jar, and made sure that the ring was still there. "Phew." Patamon sighed. "One day... This ring will join us together." He placed the ring back into the jar, put the jar back to the closet, and headed to the bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

18th week of the pregnancy. Patamon was dreaming that he was fighting Devimon as Angemon. "You're going down!" Angemon shouted. "The powers of darkness shall never triumph, Devimon!" "We'll see..." Devimon said quietly. "Angemooon!" Someone screamed. "Help me!" "W-what?" Angemon wondered, looked around, and spotted Gatomon who was carrying her baby. Devimon had cursed her so that she couldn't move at all. "Let's see if your Hope can save your family." Devimon scolded Angemon. "You bast-" Angemon started, but Devimon blasted a black orb of energy at him, knocking him on the ground and paralyzing him. "_EEEEK_!" Gatomon cried as Devimon killed her and the baby. "Gatomon!" Angemon yelled. "No... This is impossible..." "You're a weakling." Devimon stated. "You couldn't even save your own partner or child." Angemon couldn't say anything: Tears were flowing from his eyes. "The Digital World shall succumb to the powers of darkness," Devimon started. "And the first victim," He raised his hands, and a huge amount of Black Gears rose from the ground. "Will be _YOU_!" He hurled the Gears at Angemon.

"No!" Patamon yelled, and fell from his bed. "Oof!" He grunted. "Are you alright?" Asked Gatomon, who had just woken up. "Ow... Yeah, I'm fine." Patamon replied. "You rolled in your bed and screamed something..." Gatomon said worriedly. "I just had a nightmare, that's all." Patamon stated, trying to assure Gatomon that he was fine. "You can go back to sleep if you want-" "It's 7:30 P.M." Gatomon said. "Huh? Really?" Patamon wondered, and took a look at the alarm clock. "I had no idea... Well, good morning then." Patamon moved closer to Gatomon, and tried to give her a kiss, but to his surprise Gatomon took out her claws and hissed. "Whoa!" Patamon yelped, and jumped back a bit. "O-oh, I'm sorry." Gatomon apologized, and looked a little embarrassed. "It's just that... My maternal instincts-" "It's okay." Patamon said with a smile. "It's something you can't do anything about." "Y-yeah..." Gatomon muttered. "Come on, let's have some breakfast." Patamon said. "It'll be good for the baby, too." He was about to pat Gatomon's belly, but Gatomon hissed again. She quickly placed her paws over her mouth. "Okay, no touching then..." Patamon said with a nervous chuckle.

Later that day, Patamon and Gatomon were visiting Kari and T.K. at Kari's home. "How's it been?" T.K. asked the two digimon. "Fine, thanks for asking." Patamon replied. "I'm getting a little worried..." Gatomon admitted. "It's the 18th week, and the baby hasn't kicked yet." "Don't worry." Kari said to her. "The baby will most likely start kicking around this time." "How have things been over here?" Patamon wondered. "Pretty peaceful, as usual." T.K. said with a yawn. "We've had a lot more spare time now that our school's being repaired and-" "Gatomon, _NO_!" Kari screamed. Gatomon had scratched Miko, and had now pinned Miko to the ground. "_Stop_! You're hurting him!" It took the combined forces of Kari and T.K. to pull Gatomon away from Miko. Miko ran off and hid under the couch. Gatomon was breathing heavily. "Oh no, I'm so sorry..." She apologized. "What did Miko do to you?" Kari asked. "H-he started pushing me with his head, and... I-I just couldn't hold myself." "It's alright." Patamon said quietly. Kari managed to pull Miko from under the couch. "How is he?" T.K. asked.

"Thank goodness..." Kari sighed out of relief. "Had Gatomon hit Miko one inch lower, she would've pierced Miko's heart and killed him." Gatomon looked utterly shocked. "I-I'm sorry, Miko..." She said in cat language. Miko just glared at her, and quickly walked away. "I... I have to learn to control myself." She said. "I don't want to be like this until the pregnancy ends." "I understand." Patamon said. "The pregnancy overall has been extremely tough..." Gatomon stated. "Morning sickness, mood swings, huge appetite, sudden bursts of energy... I wonder if this all is worth it-" "Of course it is!" Patamon yelled. "For crying out loud Gatomon, it's going to be our child! Everything will be worth it!" "Easy for YOU to say," Gatomon started. "YOU are not the one going through all this physical stuff!" Patamon was about to open his mouth, when T.K. all of a sudden said "Stop it, you two." Patamon and Gatomon both looked at him in a suprised way. "You shouldn't be fighting about things like this, you are about to become parents!" "Y-you're right..." Patamon muttered. "I'm sorry Gatomon, I just-" "It's okay." Gatomon replied with a smile. "I apologize too, I was being selfish. Of course this all will be worth it! It's our kid, for Azulongmon's sake!" "Yeah..." Patamon said happily. "And we're gonna be proud parents."

A half hour later, the four of them were eating dinner: Spaghetti and tomato sauce. "Yummy..." Patamon said. "You're a great chef, Kari!" "Well, I don't know about that..." Kari muttered, and blushed slightly. "I've just had a great teacher, that's all." "Well, looks like your mom has taught you well," Gatomon started. "This is delicious! Have you ever thought of opening a restaurant." "W-who? Me?" Kari said. "Don't be ridiculous, Gatomon! I could never run a restaurant by myself-" "I could help you." T.K. stated. "Well..." Kari mumbled. "I really haven't thought too much of my future yet, other than being married to T.K. and have kids." "What about you, T.K?" Patamon asked. "Well..." T.K. started. "I've always wanted to be a writer." "Really?" Gatomon wondered, and T.K. nodded. "Yeah." He said. "I've always writing stuff, and as a writer, I could work whenever I want, wherever I like, without any hurry whatsoever." "Sounds like everyone's dream job to me." Patamon said, and they all laughed. "Say, maybe you could even write a book about our adventures in the Digital World!" Kari suggested. "Hmm..." T.K. murmured. "Perhaps..."

"Thank you for the dinner." Patamon thanked. "I think Gatomon and I have to get going." "Oh, so early?" Kari wondered, and looked at the clock. "Yeah, we've got a lot of things to do." Patamon explained. "Well, see you later then." T.K. said. "Bye bye-" Patamon started. "Eek!" Gatomon yelped suddenly. Patamon, Kari and T.K. all looked at her. "What is it?" Kari asked. Gatomon looked mildly shocked. "It... It kicked." She gasped with a smile. "What?" Patamon said. "The baby kicked!" Gatomon exclaimed. "No way!" T.K. said, and Patamon looked excited. "Maybe she'll do it again!" Patamon suggested, and carefully placed his paw on Gatomon's belly. Gatomon didn't hiss or anything, but her hair rose up a bit and she looked cautious. Soon, the baby kicked again. "Did you feel it?" Gatomon asked Patamon, who immediatly nodded. "This is great..." Patamon said with a tear in his eye. "It makes me really feel that the baby is there when it kicks." "I know." Gatomon said with a smile, and the two shared a quick kiss. "Aww, look at those two." Kari whispered to T.K. "They're so adorable..." "Yeah." T.K. said, and placed his hand over Kari's shoulder.

In the night, the baby started kicking again just before Patamon and Gatomon were about to sleep. "It kicks very gently." Gatomon stated. "I thought that it'd be painful when the baby starts kicking, but this is actually quite a funny feeling..." "Well, it is in the beginning." Patamon said, and looked slightly worried. "But the sensations will become harder and harder as the pregnancy goes on." Gatomon sighed, and shook her head. "Great, after morning sickness and all that, the baby kicks me to death from the inside..." She muttered. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be harmful to you." Patamon assured her. "I really hope so..." Gatomon wished, and climbed in her bed. "Good night." "Good night, dear." Patamon replied. He climbed into his bed, but didn't fall asleep. "Who would've thought..." He whispered. "Our baby actually kicked tonight. Our little girl..." Patamon placed his paws behind the back of his head, and lay down on the bed. "I wonder what she's gonna look like." He thought. "If she's going to be a Patamon or a Gatomon... A Patamon... Or a... Gato... Mon..." He fell asleep, and started snoring quietly.

In Patamon's dream, he was yet again Angemon, fighting against Devimon. "Gaah, not you again!" Angemon exclaimed. "I've had enough with these nightmares, I'm not going to let you ruin my great day! This time I shall defeat you, Devimon." "You may try..." Devimon started. "But do you think you can do it? You are on your own, all alone." "Wrong." Angemon said. "I'm not alone. I have Gatomon, T.K, a huge amount of great friends, and a soon-to-be born baby. They are all with me, right here!" He pointed at the left side of his chest, right at his heart. "As long as they're in my heart, I shall never be alone... My friends are my hope. They'll give me the power to destroy you!" "You disgust me." Devimon said with his eyes filled with hatred. "I could say the same thing about you." Angemon said coldly. "Love, friendship, hope... Those are some things which the likes of you may never understand." "Shut up!" Devimon growled. "I shall destroy you!" "Hand of Fate!" Angemon fired a beam of light right through Devimon's chest. Devimon screamed as he dissolved into digital bits and fade away. "Everyone..." Angemon muttered, and looked at his fist. "Thank you."

Patamon woke up with a victorious smile on his face. "G'morning, Gatomon." He said after Gatomon woke up. "Good- *YAWN* -morning, Patamon." Gatomon replied. "Why, you seem to be really happy today." "Oh, I just was thinking about our daught... Err, baby." Patamon explained. "Oh, that reminds me," Gatomon started. "Joe promised to take a look at baby next week. We'll finally find out whether it's going to be a girl or a boy, a Patamon or a Gatomon." "Great!" Patamon said excitedly. "I'm pretty sure that it's going to be a girl, but I'd still want to be sure about it... And I've had no idea what it's going to be." "Maybe it'll be a hybrid." Gatomon suggested. " 50 percent Patamon and 50 Gatomon." "I most sincerely doubt it." Patamon said with a chuckle. "I think it'll be a normal Patamon or Gatomon, just maybe with different colours." "An orange Gatomon kitten would be so cute." Gatomon said happily. "Or a white Patamon, or-" Suddenly, the fire alarm set off. "Aah! My breakfast!" Patamon yelped. "While you were still sleeping, I went to make some toast, and..." Gatomon and he rushed down the steps. Patamon quickly grabbed the burnt bread, tossed it into the trash can and turned off the fire alarm while Gatomon opened some windows in order to get the smoke out of the house. "Phew." Patamon sighed. "Now I know what T.K. meant when he told us not to burn down the house any time soon..." He and Gatomon looked at one another before bursting out into laughter.

"Whoa!" Gatomon yelped. "What is it?" Patamon asked her. "The baby." Gatomon explained. "It just kicked harder than usual, that's all." "Maybe she sensed what was going on." Patamon suggested. A half hour later the two closed the windows. "Mmm..." Gatomon murmured. "Fresh air always smells so nice." "Maybe we should ventilate the other rooms as well." Patamon suggested. "Naah, there's no need for that right now." Gatomon stated. "All I want right now is you." "E-eh?" Patamon wondered, and Gatomon kissed him hard. Patamon blushed when he realized what he thought Gatomon was talking about. "U-umm, don't you think i-it's too early to d-do that again?" He asked nervously. "I-I mean, it could be bad f-for the baby-" "I wasn't talking about sex, you dummy." Gatomon said. "I just want to cuddle with you." "O-oh." Patamon said, looking a little embarrassed. "Well, I've got nothing against that." "Good." Gatomon said, and gave him another kiss, only this time Patamon kissed her back. When they had to stop due to the lack of oxygen. they hugged one another. "I love you." Gatomon whispered to Patamon's ear. "I want you to always remember that." Patamon gently stroke Gatomon's back while hugging her. "I will." He stated. "And I love you too." Gatomon smiled, and the two digimon of Hope and Light just cuddled there for a moment.

The next week, Patamon and Gatomon were waiting outside a hospital room with T.K. and Kari. "He should be here in a minute-" Kari said, and that very moment Joe stepped into the hallway. "Aah, hello there!" He greeted the four. "Hiya, Joe." T.K. replied. "How are we feeling today?" Joe asked Patamon and Gatomon. "We're fine." Patamon replied happily. "We'll just wait out here then." Kari said as Patamon, Gatomon and Joe stepped inside the room. "Okay then," Joe started. "I think you know what to do." "Yeah." Said Gatomon, who had jumped on the hospital bed. Patamon sat down on a chair next to her. Joe took out the ultrasound machine, and scanned Gatomon's belly while looking at a monitor. "There it is." He said. "I think you can both pretty well what it's going to be." Patamon looked at the monitor, and gasped: There was a tiny baby Patamon in the monitor. "Is... Is that-?" Gatomon asked, and Joe nodded. "It's going to be a Patamon!" Patamon cheered, and a tear of joy dropped from Gatomon's eye. "It looks like it's asleep." Gatomon whispered. "Okay then..." Joe said. "Do you want to know the gender of your baby?" "Y-you mean you can tell it?" Patamon asked. "I'm 75 percent sure of it." Joe replied. "Okay then." Patamon and Gatomon said together.

"I think it's going to be a girl-" Joe started. "I KNEW IT!" Patamon exclaimed. "I told you Gatomon, I told you all this time!" "Yes yes, now would you please calm down." Gatomon asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "Sorry." Patamon apologized, and sat back down. "I'm pretty sure that it'll be a girl, but you may never know." Joe said. "Only time will tell-" Suddenly, the door opened: A shaken Davis stormed in, with T.K. and Kari following him. "Joe, help!" Davis cried. "W-what's going on?" Patamon asked. "V... V..." Kari muttered, but couldn't say anything and just sniffled. "What's the matter?" Joe asked. "Veemon." T.K. said. "He... He's hurt. Really, REALLY hurt." "Will you two be fine?" Joe asked Patamon and Gatomon, who both nodded. "Of course, just go and save Veemon!" Patamon replied, and Davis led the way. Joe, T.K, Kari, Patamon and Gatomon followed him. "There!" Davis sobbed, and pointed at a trolley where Veemon was lying. Gatomon gasped: veemon was bleeding, and covered in bruises. "How did this happen?" Joe asked Davis as he started pushing the trolley into a hospital room. "I-I found Veemon talking with another one." Davis started. "A-a female one... His girlfriend." Patamon looked shocked. "I asked why he never t-told us about her, we started arguing, a-and I ran off... A M-Mammothmon stampede came out of nowhere... They would've crushed me, but Veemon had arrived just in time... H-he pushed me out of the way, and, and..." Davis collapsed, and couldn't go on. "I see." Joe muttered. "I'll prepare an operation. "P-please save him, Joe." Davis begged. "H-he's my digimon partner... He's my best friend." "I'll do the best I can." Joe assured him. "You can go wait in the lobby, I'll come and tell you how it went." "Okay." T.K. said, and he and Kari helped Davis to the lobby. "Is Veemon going to be alright?" Gatomon asked worriedly. "I-I'm sure he will." Patamon replied, but gulped silently.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"This is my fault." Patamon muttered. He, Gatomon, Davis, T.K. and Kari had gathered around the comatose Veemon who was lying on a hospital bed. It had been four days since the operation, and Veemon was in critical condition. "This is all my fault." "Don't blame yourself, Patamon." Gatomon said. "I-if I had told you guys that Veemon had a girlfriend..." Patamon started. "Veemon would've beaten you up." T.K. stated. "Yeah Patamon, don't blame yourself." Davis said. "Blame me. If I hadn't been so stupid..." "Don't be ridiculous, Davis!" Kari said. "Were you the one who ran over Veemon?" "N-no," Davis started. "But... If I hadn't overreacted, we wouldn't have fought, I wouldn't have ran away, and Veemon wouldn't be..." Davis broke out into tears. Kari and T.K. both patted his back. "Has Vanessa visited Veemon yet?" Gatomon asked. "S-she was here a couple days ago, but she left right after I came back here." Davis explained. "I just hope that Veemon's going to be alright." T.K. said. "We all do." Gatomon stated, and looked at her belly: The baby had kicked again. Patamon placed his paw over her shoulders.

"Mmfh..." Someone muttered. "W-who was that?" Kari wondered, and looked around. "Veemon!" Davis exclaimed. Veemon carefully opened his eyes. "He's alive!" "Yes!" Patamon cheered. Gatomon sighed out of relief, while T.K. and Kari both just smiled. "Hey, Veemon." Davis started. "Can you hear me?" "W... Where..." Veemon started, and coughed. "You're in a hospital." Gatomon explained. "B, but... Why-" Veemon started. "O, oh, right... Now I remember..." "How do you feel?" Patamon asked him. "Well..." Veemon said, and flinched. "Every inch of my body's in pain, and I think that my ribs are broken, but other than that I feel a-okay, hehheh." "Veemon..." Davis muttered, and carefully hugged Veemon. "Ow ow ow ow..." Veemon yelped, and Davis immediatly let go of him. "Listen, I'm sorry about everything that happened-" Davis started. "It's not your fault." Veemon said. "I don't blame you for anything." "T-thanks." Davis thanked happily. "Umm," Veemon started. "How's the baby?" He asked Patamon and Gatomon. "O-oh, she's fine." Gatomon replied. "And yes, it's a she, Joe told us so." She added before Patamon could say anything.

"Speaking of..." T.K. said as Joe stepped into the room. "Aah, you're awake." Joe said after noticing that Veemon wasn't unconscious anymore. "How do you feel?" "Well, every bit of my body is hurt, but at least I'm alive." Veemon replied with an optimistic look on his face. "Yeah, that's the most important thing." Gatomon stated. "You did it." Davis said, and excitedly shook Joe's hand. "You saved his life. How can I ever thank you enough?" "Hey, it was my responsibility." Joe replied. "I just did my job... Althought I have to admit it," Joe lowered his voice so that Veemon couldn't hear. "It was really close that Veemon would've died." "Really?" Kari gasped. "His heart stopped beating for a few seconds during the operation." Joe said, and took a worried glance at Veemon. "You should keep an eye on him even after he's well again." "We will." Gatomon promised. Joe turned at Veemon. "You'll have to stay here for some time." He said. "It'll take a while until you're back to proper shape." "Okay then." Veemon muttered. "Will you be alright?" Patamon asked. "Yeah, you can leave if you want." Veemon said with a smile. "Well, we'll have to get going." T.K. stated, and he, Kari, Patamon and Gatomon left the hospital.

"There." Patamon said after he and Gatomon returned back home. "It's finally ready." Now that they knew the gender of the baby, they could finally furnish the baby's own room. "I wonder if she likes it." Patamon said. Gatomon felt the baby kicking in a rather pleasant way. "She does." She said with a smile. "Now our house is finally finished." Patamon stated. "Our harbour where no matter what, we can always come back. Whether we'd be just twenty feet away or at the other side of the world, we can always count on that we've got a place to stay in." "That was well said." Gatomon murmured. "The house is big enough for you, me and a couple of babies." "Eh?" Patamon wondered. "But a-aren't we having only a single daughter-" "I meant in the future." Gatomon explained. "What, do you expect that one lovable child is enough for us?" "Of course not." Patamon replied with a gentle smile. "We're gonna have at least three." "Yeah-" Gatomon started, but stopped when the baby kicked again. She thought about all she had to go through during the pregnancy. "That is, if I make it out alive, of course..." She sighed, and Patamon looked slightly sad.

That night, Gatomon had a rather strange dream. She found herself lost inside an old mansion. "Where am I?" She wondered, and looked a little scared. "H-hello?" Gatomon called. "...Patamon? Are you here?" She looked around, but couldn't find either Patamon or an exit. "What is this place, anyway?" Gatomon thought. "I don't recall ever seeing a house like this in my life-" She stopped after hearing a thud and a faint cry somewhere nearby. "What was that?" Gatomon wondered. She soon heard the sound of a baby crying. "Our baby's in trouble..." Gatomon thought immediatly, and tried to follow the voice. She soon came across a door that wasn't locked, and carefully opened it. She stepped into an empty room with a lonely, gloomy craddle in the middle. Gatomon gulped worriedly as she carefully looked into the craddle. "Eek!" She screamed. Inside the craddle was a twisted-looking baby Patamon, however, it didn't look innocent or cute at all. It had completely red eyes, two rows of sharp teeth, and it wielded a kitchen knice with stained blood on it. "Mama..." The baby said in a deep, demonic voice that didn't suite her at all. "I'm HUNGRY!" She jumped up, and leaped at Gatomon, who screamed harder and tried to protect herself with her paws.

"Gatomon! Gatomon!" Patamon yelled, and pushed Gatomon in order to wake her up. "Aah!" Gatomon exclaimed, and panted heavily, having finally woken up. "Are you alright?" Patamon asked worriedly. "I, I just..." Gatomon started, and held her head. "You were screaming hard." Patamon stated. "...I had the scariest nightmare ever." Gatomon said with a sniffle. She carefully rubbed the backs of her hands: Her scars were itching in a strange way. "What was it about?" Patamon wondered. "I, I really wouldn't want to talk about it..." Gatomon muttered. "I was in some sort of abandoned mansion, and the baby... It was horrible." "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Patamon said. "Just try not to think about it, okay?" "I-I'll try." Gatomon mumbled, and wiped her tears. "I'm having a bad feeling about the future." "Hmm?" Patamon wondered. "I... I think that something's bad going to happen soon." Gatomon explained. "I'm not sure what it's going to be, but I just have this feeling." "Well, I hope you're wrong." Patamon said. "I mean, I wouldn't want anything bad happen to you or the baby anytime soon." "I know, I know." Gatomon sighed.

Meanwhile, Vanessa was visiting Veemon in the hospital. She was holding Veemon's hand, and carefully stroke his forehead. "How are you feeling?" Vanessa asked Veemon. She had an unusually high-pitched voice even for a Veemon, let alone a female one. "A lot better than yesterday, at least." Veemon replied with a smile. "I think a couple of my bones have already recovered." "Well, we digimon do recover kinda quickly..." Vanessa stated. "Ya really got lucky there." "Eh?" Veemon wondered. "When I saw your body," Vanessa started. "I really thought you were a goner." Veemon smiled confidently, and said "It takes more than a pack of Mammothmon to get rid of me." Vanessa giggled lightly as she poured a glass of water and handed it to Veemon. "Thanks." Veemon thanked, and drank the glass empty. "So... Where's Davis?" Vanessa asked. "He's having a big exam tomorrow, so he had to go." Veemon explained. "He said he'll come see me later today, though." "oh..." Vanessa muttered. "Should I get going then-" "No." Veemon said immediatly. "I'm not going to hide my feelings from my friends anymore. Had I just told everyone when we started datin', none of this would've happened." "Veemon..." Vanessa muttered, smiled, and gave him a kiss.

"Umm... Did you get the results back yet?" Veemon wondered. Vanessa suddenly looked sad. "I did." She said with a sigh. "The results were negative." "Oh." Veemon muttered. "I'm not sure whether it has something to do with me or you, but the chances of me gettin' pregnant were said to be minimal." Vanessa explained. "Well, guess we won't be havin' a kid then." Veemon said, and looked upset. "I'm sorry." Vanessa apologized. "D... D-do you still love me?" Veemon noticed that her voice was shaky, and he looked sympathetic now. "Of course I do." He replied. "One setback, be it small or huge, won't stop me from lovin' you. It'd take death to do that." "You're so kind, Vee." Vanessa mumbled. "You're just the perfect girl for me." Veemon stated. "You're so honest and friendly, you've got patience and a sense of humour... You are perfect for a 'mon like me." "Thanks." Vanessa thanked, and shared another kiss with Veemon. "I'd love to be here longer, but I've gotta go." "Oh, too bad." Veemon said. "I'll come see you again tomorrow." Vanessa promised. "Well, see ya later then." Veemon said. "Bye bye!" Vanessa replied before leaving.

"Ow..." Gatomon whined, and held her head. "I've got a major headache." "Oh no." Patamon said worriedly. "Is there anything I can do?" "Do we have any aspirin?" Gatomon asked. Patamon grabbed a jar from the shelf, opened it, took an aspirin tablet from the jar and handed the tablet to Gatomon. "Thanks." Gatomon thanked as Patamon handed her a glass of water. Gatomon put the pill in her mouth, drank some water and swallowed the tablet. Soon she started feeling a lot better. "Are you okay now?" Patamon wondered, and Gatomon nodded as a reply. "Good. Just sit down and relax for now." "What are you going to do?" Gatomon asked Patamon as he grabbed flour and eggs from the food closet. "I was planning to bake a cake." Patamon explained with a happy face. "Do you know how to bake one?" Gatomon wondered. "No, but I'm going to try anyway." Patamon replied. "Oops!" He accidentally knocked over the pot of flour. "Umm... Do we have any more flour?" "Maybe I'll just give you a hand." Gatomon said, shook her head and chuckled lightly. She grabbed a new pot of flour as Patamon cleaned up the mess he made. "Well then, let's get to work." Gatomon said, and Patamon nodded excitedly.

"Would you hand me the sugar, please." Gatomon requested. "Oh, sure." Patamon replied, took off, and grabbed the sugar jar from the top of the shelf. "Oh no..." He thought, and gulped. "What am I going to do?" "Thanks." Gatomon thanked, and was about to take the jar of sugar from Patamon's hands. "Hey, look! Over there!" Patamon exclaimed, and pointed behind Gatomon's back. "What?" Gatomon wondered, and turned around. Patamon immediatly grabbed the box containing the engagement ring from the jar, and hid it behind his back. "Oh, my mistake." Patamon said. "I thought I saw something outside..." Gatomon looked suspicious, but she said nothing as she took the sugar jar from the table. "Umm, I have to go to the bathroom." Patamon said. "Okay then." Gatomon mumbled, and Patamon rushed to the bathroom. "Think, Patamon, think!" He said as he looked around. He opened a closet, and hid the box there. "It'll be safe here at least until we're done baking..." Patamon thought, and stepped out of the bathroom. "Would you hand me the milk, please." Gatomon asked. Patamon nodded, opened the fridge and grabbed a milk bottle which he then gave to Gatomon. "Would you like to go on from here?" Gatomon asked a while later. "Yes, please." Patamon replied, and Gatomon let him finish the cooking.

"It's ready!" Patamon yelled to Gatomon, who was sitting in the living room watching TV. "Let's see..." Gatomon said. "Mmm, it smells really good!" She scooped a tiny bit of the whipped cream with her claw, and tasted it. "And it tastes really good as well! You're a great chef, Patamon." "Well, I couldn't have done it without you." Patamon stated. "So... Shall we eat now?" "Sure." Gatomon replied, and the two sat down at the table. Patamon tried cutting the cake, but failed at doing so for some reason. "Ungh... Stupid cake slicer!" He said. "Let me help you." Gatomon said. She grabbed the slicer and cut the cake together with Patamon. The two looked at one another for a second. "Hehe, we look like we're just married and we're cutting our wedding cake!" Patamon said, making Gatomon blush briefly. "Here you go." Patamon handed Gatomon a piece of the cake, and then took one himself. "This tastes delicious..." Gatomon muttered, and happily ate the cake. "That's because it was made with love." Patamon stated. He fed Gatomon a small chunk of his cake. "You're so sweet." Gatomon said. She scooped some whipped cream from her cake, and poked Patamon's nose. Patamon was surprised at first, but then he laughed as Gatomon started giggling.

In the Real World, T.K. was sleeping over at Kari's place. "Thanks a lot for allowing me to stay here for tonight." T.K. thanked. "You're welcome." Kari replied with a smile. "I wouldn't have wanted you to be on your own." The two were sitting on Kari's bed, and remained silent for a while. "I want to thank you." Kari said all of a sudden. "Eh?" T.K. wondered. "You've always been protecting me." Kari muttered. "Whenever I've been in trouble, it has been either you or Tai who's helped me." "Of course I help you." T.K. said. "I love you, Kari." "I know." Kari whispered. "And I love you too. I... I..." T.K. looked suspicious. "Is there something you'd want to tell me?" He asked Kari. "I... N-no." Kari said. T.K. still looked doubtful, but didn't say anything as the two started to sleep. Or rather, T.K. started: Kari was just lying on her bed all awake. "I don't want to worry T.K. any more..." She thought. "I can feel it coming closer. The darkness... The Dark Ocean." She looked at the now-asleep T.K. "I don't want T.K. to endanger himself just so he can save me... I have to start doing things on my own, or else I'll never be able to protect anyone." Kari slowly closed her eyes as she started to fall asleep. "The darkness..." She muttered in her thoughts. "The Dark Ocean... Dragomon..." Kari finally fell asleep whilst still lost in her thoughts.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Week 21 of Gatomon's pregnancy. Veemon was finally fully recovered and was let out of the hospital. The first thing he did was gather his friends and finally tell them about his relationship with Vanessa. Much to his surprise everyone else seemed to know about it. "It was pretty easy to figure out, actually." Hawkmon stated. "You and Vanessa were always so close to one another when we weren't around." Wormmon explained. "A-and you're not gonna laugh at me or anythin'?" Veemon asked. "Of course not!" Gatomon replied. "Why on Earth would we laugh at you? None of you guys laughed at Patamon or me when we got together!" "...A great point." Veemon sighed. He looked really embarrased. "It was idiotic not to tell you. Will ya guys forgive me?" "You bet." Armadillomon replied with a blink. "How do you feel now?" Patamon asked Veemon. "Relieved." Veemon said happily. "I meant physically." Patamon added. "Well, I'm pretty much all fine, other than I feel a little painful every once in a while. Oh well, I guess that's what bones regrowin' does!" The others looked slightly concerned before they bursted out in laughter.

T.K. noticed that Kari had changed during the past couple weeks. For one thing, she became more serious, worried and shy instead of being the usual gentle and optimistic herself. At first, only T.K. and Tai seemed to pay any attention to it, but after they had a talk with the other DigiDestined everyone else also noticed how different Kari was. "I'm worried about her." T.K. admitted to the Junior DigiDestined when they were having a meeting. "What do you think has caused this sudden change in Kari's behaviour?" Cody wondered. "Maybe she's on her period." Davis joked, but closed his mouth after seeing that nobody else was laughing. "Maybe it isn't Kari." Yolei said. "Maybe Kari's been kidnapped, and that's her evil doppelg nger or an alien." "You've been reading too many science fiction stories, Yolei." Ken stated. "Got any better ideas?" Yolei asked. "I'm not sure," Ken started. "But... No, it'd be ridiculous." "What is it?" T.K. wondered. "I've had this strange feeling for quite a while now." Ken said. "Something evil is coming this way. Something familiar." "What do you think it is?" Davis asked. "I don't know." Ken replied. "But if it also affects Kari, it can't be anything good."

In the Digital World, Gatomon was cleaning the house again while Patamon was trying to watch the TV. "Would you keep it down for a second, please?" Patamon asked kindly as Gatomon was vacuuming the living room. "I'm trying to watch the news." "Oh, sorry." Gatomon apologized, and turned off the vaccuum cleaner. "I could take a little break myself." She sat down right next to Patamon on the couch. "Anything interesting going on?" "Not really..." Patamon said. "A small earthquake was felt in the northern part of the Server Continent, but other than that nothing especially shocking has reallcy happened." Patamon went to the kitchen to get a glass of ice tea. "We just received news about a strange-looking tower that has rose somewhere near the middle of the File Island." The news anchor said. "We have no idea what it is or where it came from at the moment, but we'll keep you up to date." Gatomon gasped as the news anchor showed a picture of the strange tower. "Patamon." Gatomon said. "Come here, quick." "Yes, what is it-" Patamon started, stepped into the living room, and dropped the glass of ice tea he was holding after seeing the picture. "Is that... Is that..." "A Control Spire." Gatomon mumbled.

Patamon quickly grabbed the telephone. "W-what are you doing?" Gatomon asked. "I'm gonna call T.K." Patamon explained, and started dialing a number. Gatomon felt the baby kicking harder and quicker than usual. "Shh shh, don't worry." Gatomon whispered, and gently stroke her belly. "There." Patamon said after finishing the call and putting the phone back on the table. "T.K. and Kari are on their way." "Good." Gatomon said, but looked really concerned. "I have a very bad feeling about this." "I know how you feel." Patamon said. "I wouldn't have thought we'd ever see a Control Spire again." Soon, T.K. and and an anxious-looking Kari arrived at Patamon's and Gatomon's house. "Hi there." T.K. said. "How's the baby feeling?" "Eh?" Gatomon wondered. "O-oh, she's fine." "We got your message." T.K. said to Patamon. "We came as quick as we could." "Where are everyone else?" Patamon asked. "Kari and I just came to check out the situation and call the others if we need any backup." T.K. explained. "Well, let's get going then." Gatomon said. "Y-yes." Kari muttered. She and T.K. took out their Digivice, and shouted "Digi-Armor Energize!"

_"PATAMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO... PEGASUSMON, THE FLYING HOPE!"_  
_"GATOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO... NEFERTIMON, THE ANGEL OF LIGHT!"_

T.K. and Kari climbed on their digimon's backs, and they took off. Soon enough, they came across the single Control Spire. "Whoa..." T.K. muttered. "That thing's a lot bigger than I remembered!" "That Spire looks different than the rest." Pegasusmon stated. "...I don't want to go anywhere near that thing." Kari said to Nefertimon. "We must destroy it, Kari." Nefertimon stated. "We have to save the Digital World-" "No, really, I can't go there!" Kari cried. "There's something wrong about it, something very very wrong!" "Hang on, Kari!" Nefertimon said as Kari almost fell off her back, and quickly landed. Pegasusmon landed right next to her, and T.K. jumped off his back and rushed to Kari. "Are you alright, Kari?" T.K. asked, but Kari just held her head like she was having a headache. T.K. carefully helped her down from Nefertimon's back. "The darkness..." Kari mumbled. "I feel it... Leaking from the Spire... Spreading around the Digital World..." "I know how you feel." T.K. said, looked at the Spire, and gulped worriedly. Pegasusmon and Nefertimon took off again, and started barraging the Control Spire with their attacks.

"It's no use, T.K!" Pegasusmon exclaimed. "Our attacks have no effect on the Spire whatsoever!" "But how can it be?" T.K. wondered. "This Control Spire's really odd than the others we destroyed in the past." Nefertimon stated. T.K. took out his D-Terminal. "I'll get us some backup." He said, and started typing a message. Kari started looking a little pale, almost as if something had sucked the color off her skin. In five minutes, Davis, Yolei, Cody and Ken with their Digimon partners arrived. "Aah, you're here!" T.K. said. "We came as fast as we could." Yolei said. "Wow, is that really a Control Spire?" Davis asked in awe. "It's enormous..." Cody said. Ken looked just as afraid as Kari. "B-but... This is impossible. I never built one here in the File Island, let alone one this big." Ken mumbled. "Okay then guys, let's do it!" Raidramon said, and he, Halsemon, Digmon and Stingmon attacked the Control Spire. However, the Control Spire fired an electric shockwave at the digimon, much to everyone's shock. "What happened?" Cody wondered. "L-look at the sky!" Yolei screamed, and pointed up. The sky had turned completely grey out of thunder clouds.

"Something bad's going on..." T.K. mumbled. Lightning struck nearby, scaring the children. "It's coming." Kari gasped. "It has finally come to get me." "W-what do you mean, Kari?" Davis wondered. "No..." Ken muttered. "T-this can't be..." "You guys look like you're a little sick." Yolei stated. Lightning struck the Control Spire, and the Control Spire created some sort of dark portal above it. Kari and Ken both flinched, and looked at their feet: They were in an ocean up to their knees. "Aah!" Ken yelled. Kari gasped, and breathed heavily. "W-what is this?" T.K. asked, and looked afraid. "Water?" Yolei wondered. "Where did it come from?" "Y-you mean..." Kari started, and looked at the others. "You mean you can see it as well?" "Of course we can!" Davis replied. "What do you mean?" "B-but..." Ken said. "Five years ago, only Kari and I were able to see it." "Don't forget me." T.K. added. "I saw the Dark Ocean once when I rescued Kari from there." "Could someone explain us a bit?" Davis asked. "What the heck is this Dark Ocean, and what is it doing here-" "Watch out!" Raidramon exclaimed. "Something's coming out of that portal!"

The DigiDestined all looked up. "Uh oh..." T.K. mumbled. "What is that thing?" Nefertimon wondered. "Be careful, guys." Halsemon said. "We have no idea what is going to come through that thing." "...It's you." Kari mumbled, and suddenly she stood straight up. "K-Kari?" Cody wondered. "It has come for me." Kari said. "Who?" Yolei wondered. Out of the portal stepped out some sort of digimon. It was blue, large, and covered in tentacles. It had chains and bracelets in each of it's arms, and it had spikes on it's shoulders. Two large wings sprouted from the digimon's back. "Eew!" Yolei screamed in disgust. "W-what the hell is THAT thing?" Davis asked. "...Dragomon." Kari mumbled. Dragomon opened his eyes, and looked around. "...The DigiDestined." Dragomon said in a deep, growly voice that gave shivers to the DigiDestined. "You!" Pegasusmon exclaimed. "What do you want?" "He has come to get me." Kari stated. "Eh?" T.K. wondered. "Correct." Dragomon said. "I need the DigiDestined of Light in order to complete my plans." "W-what are you going to do to Kari?" Yolei asked, trying to sound calm. Dragomon glared at her, and she yelped and jumped behind Ken's back. Dragomon then laughed in a way that made the DigiDestined even more afraid.

"I have been waiting for this day." Dragomon said. "Ever since you first came into this world, I've been looking forward to meet you personally." "What do you want from Kari?" Davis asked Dragomon. "A long time ago," Dragomon started. "The Dark Ocean was actually a part of the Digital World. It was where everything dark and evil rested... It was the sanctuary of Darkness. But then came you," Dragomon nodded and Kari. "When the DigiDestined of Light entered the Digital World, we had to move into an inner realm within the depths of the Digital World. We couldn't take the Light that emitted out of her. Of course, you had to come on the worst moment possible..." "What do you mean?" T.K. wondered. "I was really close," Dragomon started. "In succumbing the Digital World to darkness. But because of you, I had to postpone my plan for years. And now..." He moved closer towards the DigiDestined. "I shall eliminate you, the DigiDestined of Light, and complete my mission!" "I warn you." T.K. muttered, and stepped in front of Kari. "T.K..." Kari mumbled. T.K. was shaking out of anger. "If you dare to even touch her, I swear I'll KILL you-" Dragomon used his tentacles to whip T.K. aside. "T.K!" Both Kari and Pegasusmon yelled. "Uurgh!" T.K. grunted, and fell to the ground.

"Get him!" Digmon shouted, and the six digimon leaped at Dragomon. "Hmph." Dragomon snorted. He launched a shockwave that knocked the digimon away. "Oh no!" Yolei yelped. "T.K!" Kari cried, and rushed to T.K. "Are you alright, T.K?" "I, I'm fine..." T.K. mumbled, and coughed. "Fools." Dragomon scolded the digimon. "I'm one of the strongest Ultimate digimon there is, do you think I can be defeated by a bunch of Armor or Champion digimon?" "Okay then, you were asking for it! Raidramon!" Davis yelled. Raidramon dedigivolved back to Veemon, who quickly digivolved into ExVeemon. "Let's do it, Ken! ...Ken?" Ken couldn't move or say anything. He just stood there, completely horrified. "...It's no use." Ken mumbled hopelessly. "We're all going to die." "You have to think positively, Ken!" Yolei stated. "Otherwise the darkness will get you!" Dragomon started roaring all of a sudden. "W-what is he doing?" Cody wondered. Soon, black figures rose from the Ocean, and took the shape of Divermon. "Seize them." Dragomon ordered the Divermon, who surrounded the DigiDestined. "Stop!" Pegasusmon yelled, and started flying towards the Divermon. One Divermon shot a harpoon that pierced through Pegasusmon's wing. "Pegasusmon!" Nefertimon yelped. "Ouch!" Pegasusmon grunted.

The Divermon now turned at the digimon. "Uh oh..." ExVeemon muttered. "Kill them." Dragomon ordered. "Noooo!" The DigiDestined cried. "Stop, we beg you!" "Wait." Dragomon said to the Divermon. He then looked at the DigiDestined. "I promise that nobody will be hurt anymore... If you give me the DigiDestined of Light." "What?" Davis yelled. "Y-you want... Kari?" "Exactly." Dragomon said with an evil smile. "Not a chance!" Nefertimon exclaimed. "Yeah, you'll have to kill us all if you want to get Kari!" ExVeemon stated. "As you wish." Dragomon said coldly. "However, I'm saving the DigiDestined of Light for the last... You'll get to see how your friends suffer because of your ignorance. Well then..." Dragomon looked at the digimon. "Kill her first." He pointed at Nefertimon. "No!" Pegasusmon yelled immediatly. "Don't kill her, take me first!" "Don't worry." Dragomon said. "You'll be the one to die next." "Oh no..." Kari mumbled. "Nefertimon's pregnant... What am I going to do?" "Run, Nefertimon!" Pegasusmon yelled. "We'll hold them back! Just get yourself and the baby out of here!" "Ooh, she's pregnant?" Dragomon asked, and grinned even more. "Then I shall handle you myself-"

"STOOOOOP!" Kari screamed from the top of her lungs. Dragomon turned his head. "...You can have me." Kari said quietly, and walked towards Dragomon. "Just spare everyone else." "Kari, NO!" T.K. yelled. "You'll doom the entire Digital World if I give up-" "Shut up!" Kari cried. T.K. looked shocked as he saw the tears in Kari's eyes. "I-I've caused enough trouble to y-you guys ever since the beginning... I don't want to e-endanger your lives anymore." "Very well then." Dragomon said. "Stop!" Nefertimon yelled. "Kari, you can't let the darkness get you-" "Silence!" Dragomon yelled. He blasted another shockwave that not only destroyed all of the Divermon, but also caused the DigiDestined digimon to de-digivolve. "I shall not simply kill you, my dear." Dragomon said to Kari. "I shall turn you into the DigiDestined of Darkness and Despair." He wrapped his tentacles around Kari, and started carrying her towards the portal. "Let her go, you bastard..!" T.K. growled, and leaped towards Dragomon, but Dragomon had already went through the portal with Kari, and the portal vanished in their eyes just like the Dark Ocean did. "Noo!" T.K. cried, and slammed the ground with his fists. "Kari... She's gone..."

"Uuh..." Gatomon mumbled, and stood up. "Are you alright?" Patamon asked worriedly. "And the baby?" "We're both fine." Gatomon replied. "What about your wing?" "It's just a scratch." Patamon stated. "I'm sorry." Ken apologized, and looked embarrassed. "I was too afraid to do anything." "It's alright." Yolei comforted him. "It's perfectly understandable, considering your past." T.K. noticed that the Control Spire was still there. Without hesitating, he took out his Digivice, and pointed it at the Spire. "Take me to Kari." He whispered. His Digivice started glowing. It reacted with the Control Spire, creating a new portal. "Patamon." T.K. said. "I'm going after Kari. You-" "I'm coming with you." Patamon stated. "We're all going with you." Davis started. "No." T.K. said. "Only I can do this." "You can't do it without me, T.K." Patamon said. "...Fine." T.K. muttered. "I want to go, too!" Gatomon said. "No, Gatomon." Patamon started. "You must stay here." "But I'm Kari's digimon partner!" Gatomon protested. "I must help her-" "Gatomon, you're pregnant." Patamon reminded her. "I don't want anything bad happen to either of you, and you know it." "Patamon..." Gatomon murmured, but the look on Patamon's face was enough to silence her. "...Just come back in one piece. And... Please save her." Patamon smiled, said "I promise." and shared a kiss with Gatomon before he and T.K. stepped through the portal to the realm of the Dark Ocean.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Whoa..." Patamon muttered in awe as he looked around the Dark Ocean. "It's bigger than I remembered it would be." "No time for sightseeing." T.K. said quickly. "We must find Kari." "Right." Patamon muttered. "Where do you think Dragomon has taken her? Or what he's going to do to her?" "That's something I really don't want to think about." T.K. replied with a worried look. They walked in the ocean for a while. "Maybe Dragomon has dragged Kari to the depths of the Ocean..." Patamon suggested, and gulped at the thought. "I doubt it." T.K. said. "Dragomon said he doesn't want to kill Kari... Yet. At least that means we still have a chance to save her." The water splashed under T.K's feet as he walked around. "...I'm never going to forgive myself if something bad has happened to her." He stated, and a tear dropped from his eye. "Don't blame yourself, T.K." Patamon said, and patted T.K's shoulder. "It's not your fault." "It is." T.K. sobbed. "I-I should've protected her... What kind of a boyfriend am I if I can't even protect my loved one?" "No worries." Patamon said, trying to sound optimistic. "We'll find her. Everything's going to be alright."

The Junior DigiDestined were waiting at the Control Spire, alongside their digimon and Gatomon. "I-I sent the others a message." Yolei said, and put her D-Terminal back into her pocket. "I should have known..." Gatomon mumbled, with her face buried in her palms. "I had this feeling that something bad was going to happen... I should've protected Kari." "Hey, there was nothing you could've done." Hawkmon comforted her. "Dragomon was stronger than the six of us combined." "What kind of a digimon am I if I can't even protect my human companion?" Gatomon sobbed. She felt the baby kicking her gently, and sniffled. "W-well, at least you're okay." She thought, and felt a bit relieved. "Davis, what are you doing?" Cody asked. Davis was looking at the Spire. "I'm going after them." He explained. "B-but Davis!" Yolei started. "T.K. told us to stay here-" "I don't care!" Davis yelled. "T.K's our friend, I can't let him go there on his own and die! And Kari... God knows what that tentacle-faced freak has done to her by now! Stop me if you want, but I'm going." Davis opened another portal, and stepped to the Dark Ocean. "Davis!" Ken exclaimed. "Davis, wait!" Veemon shouted, and jumped after Davis before the portal faded away. "Uh oh..." Wormmon mumbled worriedly.

"Man..." Patamon panted. "We've searched everywhere, but there's nothing but ocean here. T.K, can we take a small break?" "There's no time for that, Patamon!" T.K. started. "If we don't hurry, it might be too late to save Kari!" "I can't go on any longer soon..." Patamon stated. "Please T.K, just a small break!" "...Fine." T.K. sighed. Patamon nearly fell on his back as they stopped. He panted heavily. T.K. was just looking around, looking for clues that could lead them to Kari. "Hmm?" Patamon wondered, and flinched his ear. "What's wrong?" T.K. asked. "I think I heard something." Patamon whispered. "Well, knowing this place, it can't be anything good..." T.K. mumbled. Patamon gulped, and said "L-let's go." He quickly took off and followed T.K, who had already started walking again. Patamon flew higher in order to see the surroundings better. Suddenly, he spotted something on the ground. "T.K, look!" He yelled, and pointed on the ground. T.K. noticed the thing Patamon was pointing at, and went to pick it up. "It is Kari's camera!" T.K. exclaimed. "This means they've gone this way!" "She must be close!" Patamon stated. "Come on Patamon, let's go!" T.K. said before running off.

T.K. and Patamon soon came across a huge fortress that was in the Ocean. "Whoa..." Patamon said in awe. The fortress was covered in spikes and seashells, and it was coloured black. "That thing is huge!" "They must be there." T.K. stated. "How are we going to get in-" Suddenly, they were ambushed by a group of Divermon. Patamon quickly digivolved to Angemon and destroyed the fake Divermon. "Looks like we're not going to get in easily." He stated. "We'd better be on our guard, T.K-" "I found a way!" T.K. exclaimed, and waved his hand. "There's a secret entrance here!" "Hmm..." Angemon muttered. "This seems suspicious." "Come on already!" T.K. yelled. "We have to find Kari and get out of here." "R-right." Angemon said, and flew after T.K, who had already went into the secret entrance. "Man, it's so dark here..." T.K. said. "T.K, look out!" Angemon exclaimed, and T.K. immediatly stopped. A spiked cube fell from the ceiling: T.K. jumped back before the cube could crush him. "Whoa, that was a close one!" He said, and panted slightly. "Thanks, Angemon!" "We need to pay more attention." Angemon stated cautiously. "Something worse might be lurking in the dark..."

"Don't you think we should go after him?" Yolei asked Cody and Ken. "Yolei, T.K. told us to stay here." Cody reminded her. "And I'm at least going to obey him." "What about you, Ken?" Yolei asked, and looked at Ken. "...I don't want to go there." Ken muttered. "I'm never going to that place anymore." "Oh, c'mon guys!" Yolei said with a concerned look. "Kari and T.K. and Davis could possibly die there! We have to do something!" "What could we possibly do?" Cody wondered. "Our digimon were no match against Dragomon..." "But we've got to help them!" Yolei stated. "We don't have to fight, we only need to save Kari!" She then turned at Gatomon. "Gatomon, don't you want to save Kari? Or make sure that Patamon's alright?" "Of course I do." Gatomon started. "B-but... Patamon told me not to come, and I don't want to endanger our baby..." "I, I understand." Yolei muttered. "All we can do now is wait for them to return or wait for backup." Cody stated. "Yeah Yolei, you should count on T.K. and Davis!" Hawkmon said. "They've been through a lot, they'll be fine! Especially with Patamon and Veemon accompanying them." "I guess you're right." Yolei sighed, and looked at the Control Spire. However, little did anyone know that Gatomon actually wanted to go with Patamon and the others. "I hope they're fine..." Gatomon thought worriedly.

"Here we are..." T.K. said after he and Angemon came across a door. T.K. tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Ungh... Man, it won't budge." "Let me." Angemon said. T.K. stepped out of the way as Angemon blasted the door with his Hand of Fate. "Handy." T.K. said before stepping into the hallway. From the inside, Dragomon's fortress looked a lot like Myotismon's castle, although it had the spikes-and-seashell decoration similar to the outer walls. "Where do you think Dragomon is holding Kari?" T.K. asked Angemon. "Well, I think we should head to the dungeons first." Angemon said. "If Dragomon's not planning to kill Kari, he might keep her as a prisoner." "Good thinking." T.K. said. He looked around, and spotted a staircase at the end of the hallway. "Maybe we can use this to- WHOAA!" "T.K!" Angemon yelled. A hatch had opened below T.K, and he nearly fell down. Luckily, T.K. managed to hang on the floor, and Angemon helped him back up. "Are you alright, T.K?" Angemon asked. "I, I'm fine." T.K. replied. His heart was beating rather fast. "Thanks, you've saved my life thrice during the past fifteen minutes." Angemon just smiled slightly, until he soon heard noise nearby. "What's that?" He wondered. "Huh?" T.K. said. "It's coming from here." Angemon stated, and placed his hand on one of the doors. He opened the door, and T.K. headed in.

"Whoaa..." T.K. mumbled in awe. He and Angemon had stepped inside a huge chapel. In contrast to the rest of the fortress, the chapel was white and bright instead of black and gloomy. There were candlestands on the sides of the chapel. In the middle was a huge altar, and on the altar was lying an unconscious "Kari!" T.K. shouted, and rushed at the altar. "T.K, wait!" Angemon yelled after him. T.K. put his hands behind Kari's back and head, and tried to wake her up. "Kari! Kari!" T.K. exclaimed, and tried to wake her up. "Open your eyes, Kari! It's me, T.K!" T.K. carefully shook Kari, and she finally woke up. "Mmmh..." Kari mumbled, and slightly opened her eyes. "She's alive." Angemon said. T.K smiled in a relieved way. "Hi." He greeted Kari. "T... T.K?" Kari asked. "I, is it really you..?" "Yes, it's me." T.K. replied. "Are you alright? Did he do anything to you-" "N-not really..." Kari admitted: She felt slightly weak. "Dragomon made me drink something, I passed out and... Now I feel a little powerless." "Thank goodness you're okay." T.K. muttered, hugged Kari and gave her a kiss. "Come on, let's get out of here before Dragomon returns and-"

"Going somewhere?" A voice asked. T.K. and Angemon both turned their heads. Dragomon was standing at the chapel's doorway. "Uh oh..." T.K. muttered. Dragomon had an evil grin on his face. "I'm impressed." He said. "I would have never thought you'd actually make it this far. You really must love her that much." "You bet." T.K. said. He gulped quietly as Dragomon started slowly creeping towards him and Kari. However, Angemon stepped in front of him. "I'm not going to let you hurt them!" Angemon stated. "Out of my way." Dragomon growled, and tried to slam Angemon aside. "Hand of Fate!" Angemon fired his attack at Dragomon. While it did not damage him that much, it was enough to distract him. "Let's go!" T.K. shouted and helped Kari up. The two DigiDestined then started heading towards the hallway. "Hmm?" Dragomon wondered while struggling with Angemon. "Oh, no you don't!" He tackled Angemon aside, and went after T.K. and Kari. "Stop!" Angemon shouted. He got up, and flew after Dragomon. Much to Angemon's surprise, Dragomon actually noticed that Angemon was following him: He wrapped one of his tentacles around Angemon's neck, and strangled him for a while before tossing him against a wall. He then jumped in front of T.K. and Kari. "Eek!" Kari screamed. "Nowhere for you to run anymore!" Dragomon yelled. "This is the end-"

"Vee Laser!" Someone hid Dragomon from the behind, knocking him away. "W-who was that?" Kari wondered. T.K. spotted ExVeemon and Davis standing behind Dragomon. "Davis!" He exclaimed. "Hi, guys!" Davis said with a grin. "Looks like we came just in time." ExVeemon went to help Angemon up. "You okay?" ExVeemon asked. "I'm fine, thanks." Angemon replied. "Say, how 'bout we beat up that freak together?" ExVeemon suggested with a grin. "Sure." Angemon said. "Groaaargh!" Dragomon growled. He fired a shockwave at the two digimon that forced them to de-digivolve back to Rookies. "Oh no!" Davis yelped. "Now then..." Dragomon muttered. He glared at T.K. "You're going down first!" He fired a black energy beam at T.K. "No!" Kari yelled, and pushed T.K. out of the way. The energy beam pierced through her chest. "KARI!" T.K. shouted. Kari gasped quietly, and fell on her knees. "No..." Davis mumbled. "Kari..." T.K. cried. He wrapped his arms around Kari's body. "T-this can't be..." T... K..." Kari whispered. "I... I love you." She smiled a little before passing away. Dragomon just chuckled deviously. "Yes... Yes!" He yelled in a victorious tone. "The darkness has finally triumphed!" "Kari..." T.K. sobbed. His tears landed on Kari's chest. Suddenly, Kari started glowing bright. "W-what's going on?" Davis wondered. "Hmmh?" Dragomon said. The light that emitted from Kari's body engulfed the chapel. "This power..." Patamon mumbled. "I feel stronger!"  
Veemon stated.

_"PATAMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO... SERAPHIMON!"_  
_"VEEMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO... MAGNAMON!"_

"Alright!" Davis cheered. "What, more distractions?" Dragomon scolded the two digimon. "You have failed already! The DigiDestined of Light is dead! Darkness shall take over the entire Digital World!" "You shouldn't count on that too much." Seraphimon said, and raised his arm. Dragomon looked at Seraphimon, then at Kari, then at Seraphimon again. "Oh, no you don't!" Dragomon shouted, and was about to attack Seraphimon. "Magna Kick!" Magnamon kicked Dragomon so hard that he flew through the wall. Seraphimon performed a hand movement. Kari's wounds were healed, and she opened her eyes again. "Kari!" T.K. exclaimed. "A-am I... Is this Heaven?" Kari wondered. "You're alive." Davis said with a smile as T.K. shared another kiss with her. "Thanks, Seraphimon." T.K. thanked Seraphimon. "Well then," Seraphimon started. Dragomon returned back to the chapel. "Time to finish the job." Dragomon looked enraged. He gathered all of his energy. "I'll kill you, even if it meant killing myself!" He growled. "Uh oh..." Davis muttered. "Farewell." Magnamon said. "Magna Blast!" "Strike of the Seven Stars!" Magnamon and Seraphimon fired their attacks at Dragomon, who screamed in agony before he faded away. "Nooo..." Dragomon shouted. "This can't be... I was this close!" His data compressed into a dark orb that soon blew up.

"You did it, guys!" Davis cheered. T.K. and Kari both just smiled and held hands. "Don't celebrate too soon." Seraphimon said. "E-eh?" Davis wondered. The ground soon started trembling. "Dragomon was the ruler of the Dark Ocean." Magnadramon started. "Now that he's dead, this realm will crumble away and dissolve, and we also, if we don't get out of here." "Well then..." T.K. muttered. He took out his Digivice and lifted it in the air, but nothing happened. "It's not working... We have to return to the Control Spire-" The ground started shaking harder. "Looks like it's too late for that." Seraphimon said after taking a look outside the window. He and Magnamon de-digivolved back to Patamon and Veemon due to exhaustion. "Well then guys, looks like this is it!" Davis said, and chuckled nervously. "It was nice knowing you." "No worries." Kari said in a calm voice. "We're going to make it, as long as we stay together." "Yeah, we're going to be fine." Patamon said optimistically. The five of them closed their eyes, preparing for death. "Patamon..." Someone said inside Patamon's head. "Huh?" Patamon wondered. He saw Gatomon's paw reaching out to him. Patamon grabbed Gatomon's paw with a confident smile. "Come on honey." Gatomon said inside his head. "Let's go home." Patamon felt that he was being dragged through a portal.

Patamon opened his eyes, and looked around. He, T.K, Kari, Davis and Veemon were back at the clearing where the Control Spire used to be. "You made it." Gatomon whispered before sharing a huge kiss with Patamon. "For a moment I thought you were... You were..." "It's okay." Patamon said with a smile. He looked around, and saw that T.K. and Kari were getting hugged by Matt and Tai, who had come to their rescue. "Dragomon's gone now. The Dark Ocean's gone for good." "Let's go back home." Tai suggested after letting go of Kari. "Good idea." T.K. said, and the DigiDestined headed back to the Real World. Later that night, T.K. and Kari were in Kari's room again. T.K. didn't want to leave Kari on her own after what had happened, so he asked if it was okay for him to sleep over that night. "Are you sure you're all fine now?" T.K. asked Kari. "Yeah, thanks." Kari replied. The two stayed quiet for a small while. "...Thank you." Kari thanked. "You came all the way to the Dark Ocean just to save me." "Of course I did." T.K. said with a smile. "I love you." Kari whispered, wiped a tear from her eye and started making out with T.K. on her bed. "I love you too." T.K. replied before kissing Kari again. The two kissed and touched one another as they started undressing...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Pregnancy week number 23. Gatomon's belly was now really huge: If Patamon didn't knew she was pregnant, he would've thought that Gatomon had swallowed a whole pumpkin in one gulp. Gatomon noticed that the baby always kicked more when there was a lot of noise. Joe told her that the baby could now hear at least somehow properly. Gatomon encouraged Patamon to talk to the baby so she would get used to their voices. One day, Patamon read a bedtime story to the baby. "...and so the Numemon got himself new friends and lived happily ever after." Patamon finished the story. "I wonder if she liked it..." He placed his paw on Gatomon's stomach. The baby kicked excitedly which made both of her parents smile. Patamon and Gatomon were about to go back to sleep. "Hey, hey, stop kicking already." Gatomon whispered to the baby, and chuckled lightly. However, after twenty minutes the baby hadn't still stopped kicking. "Eugh... What am I going to do?" Gatomon thought. She looked at Patamon, who was in deep sleep, snoring quietly. "Of course." Gatomon looked at her belly, and quietly started singing a lullaby to the baby.

_"Lullaby, and good night. Gatomon loves this sweet baby._  
_Lullaby, and good night. Snuggle close within my arms._  
_Close your eyes, rest your head, time to go nighty-ni~ight._  
_Let your heart be at peace, as you slee~ep within Azulongmon's sight!"_

The lullaby worked: The baby stopped kicking. Gatomon presumed that the baby had fallen asleep. "Finally." She thought with a smile before falling asleep herself. The next day, Gatomon was acting strange: Her mood swings were a lot faster for some reason. At first, she glared at Patamon angrily. Then she smiled and started kissing him, but soon stopped and looked a little disgusted. "What do you think you're doing?" Gatomon yelled and Patamon, who was totally confused. Suddenly Gatomon started laughing hysterically while crying hard at the same time. Patamon didn't know what to do, so he settled for gently patting her back. "Heh heh... Phew..." Gatomon panted, and wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm going completely insane, aren't I?" "No you're not." Patamon replied. "Mood swings are completely normal during pregnancy. I just think that yours are a little rapid, that's all-" "Oh no, is that serious?" Gatomon asked worriedly. "What if something's wrong with me or the baby? What are we going to die- Eek!" Patamon had placed his paws on Gatomon's shoulders, and shook her lightly. He looked extremely serious.

"Never," Patamon started. "Never EVER say such a thing again!" "P-Patamon?" Gatomon wondered. "Don't even think about things like that!" Patamon said. "I don't want to hear you talk about dying... Gatomon, I love you!" "I-I..." Gatomon started. "Sorry." "Everything is going to be alright." Patamon said with a gentle tone. "You may think it's tough now, but in a couple more weeks we're going to have a baby: Our own daughter who we will raise together." "You, you are right." Gatomon mumbled. "I'm sorry, I just... I think that the baby's making me crazy." "It's not the baby." Patamon stated. "It's only the symptoms of the pregnancy. The baby will do no harm to your body." Gatomon soon smiled proudly. "You've matured so much." She said to Patamon. "Huh?" Patamon wondered. "I remember how childish you used to be during our adventures." Gatomon stated. "But now you're almost a fully grown adult." Patamon blushed lightly. "Well, it's only the love I have towards you and the kid." He muttered. "Don't be so humble." Gatomon said, and brushed Patamon's cheek. "You deserve every praise you get. You're kind, honest, optimistic, mature... And a great lover to boot." "Thanks, honey." Patamon thanked, and gave Gatomon a small kiss.

After the death of Dragomon, Kari acted like her normal self again, maybe even a bit more cheerful. The anxiety and seriousness were gone out of her: She was as kind and friendly as ever. T.K. however had become overprotective if Kari. The image of Kari dying in his arms was stuck in his mind, and he was afraid he'd never get it out of his head. "Hey, come on T.K!" Patamon tried to cheer T.K. up. "I know it's difficult, but you should just try to get past it! Kari's alive now, right?" "Y-yeah." T.K. muttered. "But I just can't get over the fact that for a brief moment, she had left this world... Left me." "Aww, T.K..." Patamon said sympathetically, and gently patted T.K's shoulder. "I know how you feel. I think it'd be horrible if I ever saw Gatomon dying right in my arms..." Patamon soon felt strange, almost as if he actually had experienced such a thing. "But, Kari's all fine now, and you should be happy about that." "I am." T.K. stated. He then looked at Patamon, and smiled. "And I'm thankful to you. You were the one who brought her back." "Umm, actually..." Patamon started. "It wasn't really me." "Huh?" T.K. wondered. "I think that Kari's spirit was talking to me from the inside." Patamon whispered. "She was telling me what to do, and I did what she said." T.K. looked sceptical, but didn't say anything.

Gatomon was sitting in the kitchen, checking the mail. She looked a little concerned. "Strange..." She thought. "I haven't received any messages from Gina lately. I wonder how she's doing..." Gatomon flashed back to the past, when she was just a little Gatomon kitten and how she used to play with Gina. Years before the DigiDestined arrived in the Digital World, Gatomon, Patamon and all the other DigiDestined Digimon were living their lives normally. Each of them had their own family, and they lived in different parts of the Digital World. However, when the Dark Masters began plotting to take over the Digital World, eight digimon were required to save it alongside their human companions, and Gatomon was one of them. The eight were reverted into Digi-Eggs, with their memory of their past lives erased. However, after Apocalymon was defeated, the eight digimon had their memory restored. Gatomon went to search for her sister, and eventually found her living in a city that was full of Gatomon-like digimon. "Oh well, I bet she's alright." Gatomon said with a shrug as she put the mail down on the table. "Gina's a strong digimon, even stronger than me." Gatomon went to the living room, jumped on the couch and turned on the TV.

Soon, Patamon came back home. "Honey, I'm home!" He yelled from the door. However, after getting no reply, he asked "...Gatomon?" He heard a faint sniffle from the living room. "Gatomon, are you alright-" Patamon wondered as he stepped into the living room. Gatomon looked completely shocked. Tears were flowing from her eyes as she watched the news. "Gatomon!" Patamon exclaimed, and rushed to Gatomon. "What's wrong, love?" "L... Look..." Gatomon sobbed, and pointed at the TV. Patamon looked at the TV, and gasped. It showed recording of a city that was completely destroyed. "Is, is that..?" Patamon asked. Gatomon sniffled and nodded as a reply. "E-everyone's dead..." She cried. "E-everyone... Gina..." Gatomon collapsed, and Patamon immediatly hugged her. "There, there..." He whispered, and stroke Gatomon's back. "It's alright, just let it all out. I know how you feel..." Patamon knew very well how much Gatomon loved Gina. Suddenly, the phone rang. "I'll get it." Patamon said, and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" He answered to the phone. "Oh, I see... Yeah, she's right here. Gatomon!" Yes?" Gatomon asked with a sniffle. "It's for you." Patamon explained, and handed the phone to Gatomon. "M-me?" She wondered. "Hello?" Gatomon said to the phone, trying to sound as calm as she possibly could.

"Hmm... Really?" Gatomon asked. "She is?" She soon looked rather relieved. However, as the phone call went on she looked even more frightened than after watching the news. "Oh no... Yes, I'll come see her as soon as I can. Thank you." Gatomon finished, and hung up. "This is terrible..." She whispered. "What is it?" Patamon wondered. "Well, t-the good news is..." Gatomon started. "Gina's alive." "Really?" Patamon asked excitedly. "Yes." Gatomon said. "I don't know how... She's said to be one of the very few survivors." "I see." Patamon said, and looked at Gatomon's face. "But something tells me that there's also bad news." "Yes." Gatomon replied, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "G... Gina's gone insane." "What?" Patamon yelped. "Apparently, s-she suffered trauma from seeing everyone dying..." Gatomon explained. "They said she's completely hysterical, paranoid and... And..." "I see." Patamon mumbled. "Who could have done such a thing?" "I, I don't know." Gatomon said. "But they said in the news that he's been captured and locked up tight." "Well, at least he can't cause another massacre, right?" Patamon said, trying to sound optimistic. "I want to go see Gina." Gatomon stated. "Do you want to go now?" Patamon asked her. "...Yes." Gatomon said after a moment of thinking.

Patamon and Gatomon were sitting in an asylum lobby. "It's pretty quiet here..." Patamon whispered. He looked around, and saw some of the patients walking carefully with their nurses. Some digimon acted completely calm and cool, others truly showed that they weren't all mentally sound: One Monzaemon thought that he was a teapot. "I don't think this is the right place for our baby." Patamon said to Gatomon. "We won't be here for long." Gatomon replied. "I just want to see Gina, that's all." Soon, they were lead into a room where they would meet Gina. "Sit down, please." The guard who led them to room. Gatomon heard struggling and screams from a room next to theirs. Soon, two guards dragged Gina into the room. "Let go of me! Let go!" Gina yelled. "Gina?" Gatomon started, and Gina looked at her. "S-sister?" Gina started, ran at Gatomon, and grabbed her shoulders. "You must run, flee to the other side of the Digital World! He'll get you, he'll kill you, he'll kill us all!" "Stop!" Patamon yelled, and pushed Gina away from Gatomon. "Patamon, don't!" Gatomon yelped. The two guards restrained Gina again. "DEAD!" Gina screamed, and collapsed totally. "They're all... Dead..." Gatomon felt bad for Gina. "...I'm not insane." Gina whispered. "Huh?" Gatomon wondered. "I'm NOT insane!" Gina shouted. Patamon and Gatomon both jumped back a bit. "I'm not insane, I'm all well, heh heh hee..." Gina started laughing uncontrollably, followed by a hysterical cry. "Mmmaybe we should get going." Patamon whispered to Gatomon, who just looked at Gina and nodded hesitantly.

"Poor Gina..." Gatomon sighed as she and Patamon left the asylum. "I know." Patamon said. "I hope she gets better. Maybe we weren't the best friends, but I do think she was a nice digimon-" "Nice?" Gatomon said, and looked a little upset. "She is one of the bravest, kindest digimon I've ever met! It's not fair that she ended up like this..." "Didn't one of the asylum doctors say that there is a chance she'd get better again?" "Yes, but they said that it's not completely sure, and even if it was it would take a long time, maybe even years." Gatomon then looked at her belly with a curious smile. "I wonder what you thought about Aunt Gina." She whispered to the baby, who replied by kicking Gatomon's stomach gently. "I think she liked her." Gatomon said to Patamon, who smiled slightly. "I hope she gets to meet Gina when she gets sane again." Patamon wished. Gatomon's belly growled all of a sudden. "Man, I'm so hungry..." She stated. "Yeah, me too." Patamon said. "I think there's a restaurant nearby... Shall we go eat there?" "I would like that." Gatomon replied, and giggled slightly as Patamon offered her his paw. Patamon opened the restaurant door for her. "Ladies first." He said. "Thank you, my polite angel." Gatomon thanked. She and Patamon stepped into the restaurant, and sat down at a free table. "Good evening." The waiter greeted the two and handed them the menus. "What would you like to eat." "Hmm..." Gatomon mumbled as she read the menu. "Uh-oh..." Patamon thought.

"Phew..." Gatomon murmured. "I'm so full." "I believe that..." Patamon mumbled, and sighed quietly as he looked at his empty wallet. "You ordered a dish of every food available." "Sorry," Gatomon apologized. "I was just so hungry." "It's okay, I understand." Patamon said with a gentle smile. "I know pregnancy causes huge appetite." "Well, at least we're all full now." Gatomon said, and looked at her belly. "Isn't that right, sweetheart?" The baby kicked gently again, making Gatomon smile. "I wonder when you're going to be born..." "It's only been a little over 5 months now." Patamon stated. "If everything goes normally, the baby won't be born until three to four months later." "Yeah..." Gatomon mumbled. She soon looked very crestfallen again. "What's wrong?" Patamon wondered, even though he knew why Gatomon was so sad. "I-I just can't grasp the fact that... E-everyone's dead..." Gatomon whispered, and started sobbing again. Patamon quickly hugged her. "It's alright." He whispered. "W... W-who does such a thing, anyway?" Gatomon asked Patamon. "What kind of a s-sick, twisted digimon would commit such a huge crime?" "I don't know." Patamon replied. "Maybe someone who really hates Gatomon." After hearing Patamon's words, Gatomon immediatly thought of a certain vampire-like digimon. "...Myotismon?" She thought, but didn't say anything to Patamon.

"Do you think that everyone will eventually return?" Patamon asked. "W-well, that is possible..." Gatomon admitted. "Only if the killer didn't destroy their data as well... I wouldn't keep my hopes up though." "Hey, there's always Hope." Patamon stated. "Yeah, I guess you know that the best." Gatomon said with a smile. She then looked at her belly again. "I wonder which one she'll be: a Digimon of Hope or Light." "Maybe she'll be both." Patamon suggested. "Perhaps." Gatomon said. "But who'll be her human companion?" "Does she need one?" Patamon wondered. "Well, since she's going to be the child of two Chosen Digimon, I think it'd be possible." Gatomon explained. "Hmm..." Patamon started. "What if T.K. and Kari have a child one day? Maybe it'll be him or her." "Oh, right..." Gatomon muttered. "Kari told me that she'd be eager to have a child, but apparently T.K. doesn't want to." "Oh, no no no!" Patamon said. "Kari got it all wrong! T.K. would love to have a kid as well, but... He's not ready yet. And I can see why, I mean, they're only like 16 years old or so..." "I see." Gatomon said. "But we're not that old ourselves, either-" "It's not the same." Patamon interrupted her. "We age at least twice faster than humans do." "Good point." Gatomon said. When they reached home, Patamon opened the door for Gatomon. "Thank you." Gatomon thanked and Patamon just smiled as the two stepped in.

Meanwhile, T.K. had asked Kari out for a date. The two went to see a movie and have a dinner, and now T.K. was walking Kari home. "Thanks, you're a true gentleman." Kari thanked T.K. T.K. just smiled and said "It's my responsibilty as your boyfriend. I don't want anything bad happen to you ever again, especially after the whole Dragomon incident." T.K. hesitated for a moment: He wanted to ask Kari something that had been bugging him for a while. "Uuh..." He started. Kari looked at him curiously. "This might sound weird, but, err-" "What is it?" Kari asked. T.K. was surprised by how sudden Kari was. "Well, I..." T.K. said quietly. "Patamon told me that after you... P-passed away, you spoke to Seraphimon inside his head." "Well... Yes." Kari admitted, and looked a little embarrassed. "I-I have to tell you something... T.K, when Dragomon was about to kill you, I pushed you out of the way not only because I wanted to save you, but... Patamon and Veemon didn't have enough strength to fight Dragomon as themselves, so there was only one thing I could do. I had to use my powers of Light so that they could digivolve, but I couldn't simply just do so because of the Dark Ocean, so I had to trigger your true feelings towards me." "Oh." T.K. muttered. "So... You sacrificed yourself in order to make me mourn for your death so that Patamon and Veemon could defeat Dragomon?" "Y-yes." Kari said, and blushed out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to traumatize you or shatter your heart or anything, I just-" "It's alright." T.K. said with a comforting smile. "At least you're alive and Dragomon and the Dark Ocean are gone. That's what matters the most." "O-oh?" Kari wondered. "Yes." T.K. replied. He gently brushed Kari's hair. "I-I thought you'd get mad at me..." Kari mumbled. "Of course not." T.K. whispered to Kari's ear. "I love you, Kari." He then gave her a kiss. "T.K..." Kari said quietly before smiling herself. "I love you too." The two shared another kiss before Kari returned her apartment. T.K. started walking back to his home with rather excited steps.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Week 26 of Gatomon's pregnancy. Gatomon thought that the morning sickness and mood swings were the worst things about the pregnancy, but she was wrong. Throughout the following week, Gatomon started experiencing discomfort and pain in her body. Usually it was her back that hurt, due to her rather huge belly. Gatomon also suffered from occasional headaches: Combined with the minor mood swings that she still had, Gatomon felt like she was going insane. Furthermore, she also suffered from leg cramps that weren't as bad as the headache, but they usually occurred at the worst possible moments. Gatomon once had a leg cramp right as she was carrying a pile of plates, and it was all thanks to Patamon that she didn't either drop all the plates or fall on her back. "Thanks, Patamon." Gatomon thanked, and wailed quietly as she rubbed her leg. Patamon put the dishes in the cupboard, and then focused back on Gatomon. "Are you alright now?" He asked with a concerned look. "Yeah, I think." Gatomon replied. "I think you should rest for a while." Patamon suggested. "Euuh, but I don't want to sit down doing nothing-" Gatomon whined, but another leg cramp forced her to do as Patamon said and rest for a while

"Here." Patamon said, and handed Gatomon a plateful of ice cream. "O-oh, thank you so much." Gatomon thanked, being a bit surprised by Patamon's generous act. "Are your legs feeling any better?" Patamon wondered. "Yes, thanks for asking." Gatomon replied while eating the ice cream. Patamon was just standing there, looking at her with a smile. "What?" Gatomon asked in an annoyed tone after noticing Patamon's stare. "N-nothing." Patamon replied quickly. "It's just that... You look so cute when you're pregnant." Gatomon blushed briefly. "Well, thank you." She muttered. Patamon sat down right next to her on the couch, and grabbed her paws. "Gatomon, everything's going to be alright." Patamon assured Gatomon. "We defeated Myotismon, The Dark Masters, The Digimon Emperor and all our other enemies... And we did it together." "I know." Gatomon said. "And as long as we stick together, we can make it through anything." Patamon stated. "I know that you're going through a lot of pain... I wish I could be in your place. You really don't deserve all this." "Mmh..." Gatomon mumbled. "It'll be all fine." Patamon said, and gave her a small kiss.

At night, Patamon and Gatomon both had some difficulties trying to fall asleep: Gatomon was being kept awake by the baby who was kicking in her belly, and Patamon was being kept awake by Gatomon. "What's wrong with her?" Patamon asked Gatomon. "I don't know..." Gatomon said worriedly. "She just won't stop moving- Ow!" "Why don't you sing her the lullaby?" Patamon suggested. "...I, I hadn't thought of that." Gatomon admitted, looking now a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, my brains haven't been working properly lately." "It's okay." Patamon said as Gatomon started singing the lullaby. However, the baby wasn't the only one who was affected by the lullaby: Patamon's eyelids started closing on their own, and he soon dozed off. "Patamon?" Gatomon wondered after hearing a quiet snore from Patamon's bed. She looked at the sleeping Patamon with a wide smile. "He looks like an angel when he's asleep..." She thought, pulled a blanket over her body, placed her head on a pillow and started sleeping herself. "I know that you are going through a lot of pain," Patamon still remembered the words she had said to Gatomon. "I wish I could be in your place... Gatomon's place... A pregnant woman..."

When Patamon woke up the next day, he felt a bit funny. "Man..." He yawned, and rubbed his eyes. He tried to get up from the bed, but much to his surprise, he felt a lot heavier than he usually did. "Oof... Why can't I get up?" Patamon wondered. He eventually managed to sit up, but then he felt something strange inside his stomach. "Ack!" Patamon yelped and flinched slightly. He looked at his belly curiously. "What was that?" Patamon wondered. "It's almost as if something kicked me from the inside... But that couldn't be. Or could it?" Patamon then took a look at the clock, and felt another 'kick' inside him. "What's going on?" Patamon thought. "...Now that I think of it, my belly seems to be enormous. There's something fishy going on around here-" He looked down at her belly, but suddenly stopped. He spotted two bumps that were on his chest. "Wait." Patamon mumbled. "C-could this be..." His voice sounded more high-pitched than usual. Patamon rushed downstairs, and headed to the bathroom. He looked at himself from the mirror: His facial features and body overall looked rather feminine. "B, but... This is impossible." He whispered. "It can't be, it just can't be-" He was cut by another kick inside his belly. "Oh my goodness," He started. "I'm a woman!"

"Patamon?" Patamon heard someone calling him. "Are ya alright?" "O-oh, yes!" Patamon replied from the bathroom. "How did this happen?" He thought. "Am I just dreaming, or is someone playing a sick trick on me?" Patamon walked to the living room, and saw Gatomon sitting on the couch. "Hi there, honey!" Gatomon greeted Patamon with a smile. Gatomon seemed to have changed, too. She looked and sounded a lot more masculine than usual. Gatomon stood up, and gave Patamon a kiss. "How's my Sweetheart?" Gatomon asked, looked at Patamon's belly, and smiled. "And our daughter, too?" "W-we're both fine." Patamon replied. "Umm... Could you tell me what's going on?" "What do you mean?" Gatomon wondered. "Well, err... It seems that I'm a pregnant woman, and you've turned into a male." Patamon started. "I know." Gatomon replied, and looked at Patamon in a funny way. "That's how things have always been." "R-really?" Patamon wondered, and Gatomon nodded. "Yeah. Are you all fine?" Gatomon inquired in a worried manner. "I, I really don't know." Patamon muttered. "I feel so confused..." "How 'bout you just sit down and try to clear your head while I make us dinner." Gatomon suggested. "I, I-" Patamon started, but Gatomon didn't listen to 'her' as 'he' placed Patamon on the couch. "Just relax." Gatomon said with a comforting smile. "I-I will." Patamon said, and Gatomon went to the kitchen.

"So... I'm a woman now." Patamon thought while lying on the couch. "This is definetly one thing I thought I'd never experience." Patamon looked at 'her' belly. "This feel unnatural." 'She' stated. "It's almost as if it was my mind stuck in Gatomon's pregnant body." Patamon felt the baby kicking again in 'her' belly. "Now now, dear." Patamon whispered while stroking 'her' belly. "Don't worry, everything's fine-" "Here ya go." Said Gatomon, who had brought Patamon a plateful of fish soup. "Thank you." Patamon thanked, and started eating the soup. "Mmm... This tastes delicious!" "Only the best for my girl." Gatomon said to Patamon's ear. Patamon giggled lightly as 'she' gave 'him' a small kiss. "Aah." Patamon sighed happily, and handed the plate back to Gatomon. "Thanks, it was very good." "That's good to know." Gatomon said, and looked at Patamon's belly. "I wonder if the baby liked it as well." Patamon felt the baby kicking again very gently, and 'she' said "I'm pretty sure she did." Gatomon smiled as 'he' returned back to the kitchen. "Hmm..." Patamon mumbled. "This gender-swapped world sure seems both weird and interesting at the same time, althought the baby seems to not have been affected." Patamon looked out of the window. "I wonder if this has affected T.K. and Kari and the others... Well, I guess there's only one way to find out."

"Umm, Gatomon?" Patamon started. "Yeah?" Gatomon replied from the kitchen. "I was wondering if we could go see T.K. and Kari." Patamon said. "I mean, we haven't seen them for such a long time-" "Of course we can." Gatomon replied happily. "Anything you want, hon." "...This feels pretty strange." Patamon thought with a devious smile. "I've always been the one who has done anything Gatomon wants... This reality actually doesn't seem to bad-" "OW!" Patamon yelped all of a sudden. "You alright?" Gatomon asked worriedly. "I just had a leg cramp..." Patamon whined, and rubbed her leg. She carefully tried to move it while still rubbing it in order to ease the pain. "Aww, poor Patamon." Gatomon said sympathetically, and hugged Patamon. "I wish I was in your place during these times, it's not fair that you get to suffer all the pain during the pregnancy." "U, uuh..." Patamon muttered quietly. "If she, I mean he... If Gatomon only had any idea..." She thought. After Patamon's leg got better, the two then decided to head to the Human World in order to meet T.K. and Kari. "They said they'd be at T.K's apartment..." Gatomon muttered. Patamon felt the baby kicking in an excited way. "Our daughter also seems to be excited to see T.K. and Kari again." Patamon stated. Gatomon knocked on the door. Soon, T.K. opened the door from the other side.

"Hi there, guys!" T.K. greeted them. "Hiya, T.K!" Gatomon replied just as Patamon opened her mouth. Gatomon slapped high fives with T.K, which greatly surprised Patamon. "Hello, Patamon." Kari greeted Patamon with a gentle smile. "Uu-huh." Patamon thought, and said "Hi." to Kari. "So, it looks like I'm Kari's digimon partner in this reality." "How are you two doing?" T.K. wondered. "We're all fine, thanks for askin'." Gatomon replied with a grin. "And what about the little one?" Kari asked Patamon. "O-oh!" Patamon said in a surprised way, being lost in her thoughts. "She's fine as well, thanks." "Good to know." Kari said happily. "Would you want to eat something?" T.K. inquired as he opened the fridge. "No thanks, we ate just before we came here." Gatomon said. T.K. grabbed two cans of lemonade, giving one of the cans to Kari. "Thanks, I was getting a little thirsty." Kari thanked, and opened the can. "How have you been, then?" Gatomon wondered. "We've been great!" T.K. replied. "Our school will be over soon, so we can focus on helping you with the pregnacy." Kari explained gladly. "That's nice- Oof..." Patamon groaned: The baby had kicked her in a very unpleasant place. "Umm, can I use the toilet, please? I really have to pee..." "Oh, sure, go on ahead." T.K. replied. Patamon thanked and hurried to the bathroom. Being a woman now, she had a little difficulties trying to use the toilet.

However, using the toilet was the smallest of Patamon's problems: She really wasn't used to being a female living in this alternate reality. For one thing, she usually kept talking to T.K, which not only confused Gatomon and T.K, but also made Kari feel a bit hurt. Just being a girl would have been weird enough to her, but being a pregnant one was more different than anything she had ever experienced. Feeling the baby kick, and even the minor mood swings were completely new and strange to him. "I wonder what's the reason behind all this." Patamon thought. She, Gatomon, T.K. and Kari were eating dinner together, with everyone else chatting and laughing other than herself. "I said to Gatomon that I hoped I was in her place... I remembered those words in my head right as I fell asleep-" Patamon all of a sudden dropped the fork she was holding which alerted the other three. "Is everything alright, Patamon?" Kari asked Patamon. "Of course." Patamon muttered to herself. "Now I know what's going on. This is a dream! It's all just a dream! That's why-" She looked at the others, shut her mouth and blushed deep red. "I-I'm sorry." Patamon apologized. "I was just lost in my thoughts." "It's alright." Kari assured her with a smile. "Gee Gatomon, you should take better care of your girl before she goes all loony!" T.K. joked. Gatomon glared at him, but laughed nevertheless. "Well, maybe we should get going." Gatomon said to Patamon, who nodded and replied "S-sure." "See you later." T.K. said to them. "Bye ya!" Gatomon replied before he and Patamon left.

"Patamon, are you all fine?" Gatomon asked Patamon while they were walking home. "O-of course I am!" Patamon replied with a nervous giggle. Gatomon wasn't convinced at all. "You really seem to be hiding something from me." He said. "Come on dear, you can tell me anything. I'm your partner, after all." "Well..." Patamon started. She hesitated for a moment: Gatomon would think that she's out of her mind if she told him. Patamon eventually gave up. "Fine." She sighed. "I tell you what it is." "I'm listening." Gatomon said. "Alright then..." Patamon started, and took a deep breath. "Gatomon, I... I'm not the Patamon you're familiar with. I may look like her, but I'm really not. Actually, I'm not even a woman in my own reality, let alone pregnant. I come from an alternative dimension where I'm a male, and you're the one that's pregnant." Gatomon looked at Patamon with a really strange look. On the other hand, he looked confused and skeptical, but he also seemed to look like he believed what Patamon was telling him. "So in a nutshell: You are not my Patamon?" He asked. "Well, at least not the one you're familiar with." Patamon replied. "I am your Patamon, but from completely another world." "I see." Gatomon said quietly. "Well, that'd explain a lot. But to me, you're still the same Patamon I fell in love with years ago." "Gatomon..." Patamon muttered, smiled, and gave Gatomon a kiss. "I guess that no matter which reality we are in, our love shall always be the same." Patamon stated. Gatomon chuckled lightly and said "You're so right about that, Patamon."

The two heard something coming their way. Patamon felt the ground shaking a little under her feet. "W-what's going on?" She asked worriedly. A rampaging Monochromon charged from the woods. "Uh oh." Gatomon muttered, looking a bit afraid. Monochromon spotted the two digimon, and stomped the ground once before firing a Volcanic Strike at them. Patamon and Gatomon barely managed to jump out of the way. "T-that was close!" Patamon yelped. "Patamon, run." Gatomon said, and looked at the Monochromon. "You must take our baby to somewhere safe." "B-but I-" Patamon started. "What kind of a guy am I if I can't protect the ones I love?" Gatomon asked himself. Patamon took off, and quickly fled into a tree as Gatomon started fighting the Monochromon. At first Gatomon did fine, but all of a sudden his Tail Ring slipped off, weakening him greatly. "Oh no!" Gatomon yelped as Monochromon charged at him, and slammed him against a nearby tree. "Gatomon!" Patamon cried. "Oh no... I don't care if I'm a woman or not, if that's a different Gatomon, I still love him, her... I still love Gatomon!" Monochromon was just about to stomp Gatomon when suddenly Patamon flew down from the tree and Warp Digivolved into Angewomon. "P... Patamon..?" The battered Gatomon mumbled. "Don't say anything." Angewomon warned him. She then glared at Monochromon. "Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon fired a couple arrows in order to shoo the Monochromon away, and luckily she succeeded. She de-digivolved back to Patamon, and landed right next to Gatomon.

"Gatomon, are you alright?" Patamon asked worriedly as she helped Gatomon up. "I, I'm fine." Gatomon replied with a weak smile. "Thanks. You saved my life." "Well, it was only fair." Patamon replied and grinned. "I guess that in this world, you've been the one who has helped me out all the time, so-" "Hmm, speaking of," Gatomon started. "Do you think you should return to your own world?" "I'd love to, but... I don't know how." Patamon said with a sigh. "Don't worry." Gatomon cheered her up. "I know a way." "Y-you do?" Patamon asked. Gatomon nodded, and snapped his fingers. Patamon felt drowsy as she fell asleep. When Patamon woke up, she noticed that she was lying on her own bed. "Man..." Patamon yawned. "I wonder what she did to me-" Patamon stopped. She looked at her belly, and it was normal sized. Her voice was also a little deeper, and she had breasts no more. "I... I'm a male again." Patamon murmured, with a relieved smile. "Yes!" He cheered. "I would've never thought that sleeping in that other world would've brought me back here..." Patamon looked at Gatomon's bed, noticed that there was nobody there, and hurried downstairs. "Good morning, Patamon." Gatomon greeted him. She was doing the dishes in the kitchen. Patamon didn't say anything as he walked towards Gatomon and kissed her. "W-what was that for?" Gatomon wondered. "Nothing special." Patamon replied with an innocent smile. "I just wanted you to know how great mom you're going to be in the future." "Oh, thanks." Gatomon said with a light blush on her face. "Well, at least now I know how it feels to be in Gatomon's place." Patamon thought.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Pregnancy week 27. Gatomon noticed that her hormones were running wild again, causing nausea and heartburns, along with the mood swings being a bit stronger than they were during the last couple of weeks. Gatomon also experienced unpleasant but not painful contractions. Gatomon was worried: What if the baby would be born sooner than expected? She expressed her worries to Kari, who told her that these contractions were only the means of helping Gatomon's body prepare for labor. "Darnit..." Gatomon swore quietly. "If these are just the beginning, I don't want to know how the contractions feel when it is time to give birth..." The baby didn't kick that often anymore, but when she did, the kicks were stronger than usual due to the limited body movement. At this point, Gatomon wasn't as energetic as she was a few weeks ago, as the third trimester of the pregnancy was about to start. While the symptoms were worse than usual, Gatomon still managed to maintain optimism towards the pregnancy, all thanks to Patamon and their other friends, who helped her remember that as long as she kept her hopes up, everything was going to be fine.

Patamon had noticed something strange. Every morning he spotted that the trash can was lying on the ground, almost as if someone had knocked it over during night. When Patamon went to investigate, he also noticed some tiny footprints that he presumed belonged to either a Gatomon, a BlackGatomon or a Mikemon. "Well, whoever it was, it sure did a good job at emptying our trash can..." Patamon muttered. He decided to put a lock on the trash can in order to stop the unknown intruder. However, much to his surprise, Patamon spotted that the lock had been picked. "Hmm..." Patamon thought. " Looks like I'm dealing with one clever 'mon." "Maybe it's just someone who's so poor that he can't afford to buy his own food." Gatomon suggested, and looked slightly sympathetic. "Yeah, maybe." Patamon started. "Or maybe someone is just messing with us." "I doubt it." Gatomon said, but Patamon didn't reply. Patamon decided to set up a trap for the someone: He hid a camera inside the trash can in order to get a picture of the stranger. However, this digimon turned out to be more clever than Patamon had thought: It had knocked the trash can over from the other side, and blocked the camera lens. However, Patamon spotted some black hair on the ground. "A BlackGatomon, I presume." Patamon said, but didn't really care that much about it anymore.

That evening, Patamon and Gatomon had an unexpected visitor. It was a stormy day: It rained really hard, the wind was strong enough to blow an In-Training digimon away, and lightning struck every once in a while. "Man, look at that storm!" Patamon said after taking a look outside. "It hasn't been this bad weather since... Well, ever I think!" "I know." Gatomon said. "I feel bad for all those homeless digimon without a roof over their heads... I wonder how they survive out there." "I'm sure they'll all be fine." Patamon said in order to cheer Gatomon up. "Although I do think that it's unfair that not all do have a place to stay." Someone knocked on the door all of a sudden. "Huh?" Patamon wondered, and went to open the door. "I wonder who it is..." "Considering the weather, it could be anybody." Gatomon stated. Patamon opened the door, and outside was standing a familiar figure. "E-Elecmon?" Patamon asked, sounding rather surprised. "Hiya, Patamon." Elecmon replied. His fur was soaking wet. "Can I come in for a while?" "Of course." Patamon replied, and stepped out of the way, letting Elecmon in. "Hello there, Gatomon." Elecmon said to Gatomon. "Hello." Gatomon replied. "Whoa, you look like someone poured a bucket of water on your head! Sit down, I'll bring you something warm." "Oh, thanks." Elecmon thanked, and sat down in an armchair. Patamon sat down right next to him.

"Here you go." Gatomon said, and handed both Elecmon and Patamon a cup of coffee. "Thanks." Elecmon thanked. He took a sip of the coffee. "I heard the good news a long time." He referred to Gatomon's rather large belly, or more specifically to the baby inside. "Congratulations." "Thank you." Patamon and Gatomon both thanked. "I'm sorry I haven't visited you earlier." Elecmon apologized. "I've been really busy lately, especially during the past couple weeks. After the destruction of Gatomon's home town- I'm sorry, Gatomon." "Thank you." Gatomon said with a sad look on her face. "After the incident there, the amount of Digi-Eggs in Primary Village have increased trendemously. I've had little to no free time myself." "Umm... But what were you doing out there in the storm, anyway?" Patamon asked. Elecmon took another sip of his coffee before replying. "Actually, it's a little embarrassing story." Elecmon started. "I was about to fetch food for the babies, when the storm came out of nowhere. In a matter of seconds, there rain got so hard that I couldn't see a thing. I wandered around for a while until I realized that I was totally lost... I saw the lights of your house, and I was in a need of a shelter, so..." "Aww, poor Elecmon." Gatomon sighed in a sympathetic way. "Feel free to stay here as long as you like." "Thanks, but I'll leave when the storm's over." Elecmon stated.

"How have you two been?" Elecmon asked. "Now that Gatomon's pregnant and all..." "We've been fine, thanks." Patamon replied. "Speak for yourself..." Gatomon muttered. She looked a bit upset. "Well, Gatomon's had some tough times thanks to the pregnancy symptoms." Patamon whispered to Elecmon. "I see." Elecmon said and nodded. He looked out of the window, and sighed. "I hope that the rain ends soon. I need to get back to my babies." "Umm, Elecmon?" Patamon started. "Yes?" Elecmon replied. "I was wondering... How's it like to be a parent, and take care of your babies?" Patamon wondered. "Well, I wouldn't call myself a parent." Elecmon said. "I'm more of a babysitter." "Yeah, but you still take care of the babies, right?" Patamon said. "How is it?" "Well, it's actually pretty nice." Elecmon admitted. "It can be tough at times, and you need to pay a lot of attention to the children, but it's so rewarding at the same time." "Do you ever get tired of babysitting?" Gatomon asked. "Maybe sometimes," Elecmon said. "But I still would never give up my job." He sighed quietly, and then smiled. "I just love those little angels..." "I see." Patamon muttered. "And, err... Do you think I'm going to be a good parent." Elecmon looked at Patamon in a funny way before saying "Of course I do. You took pretty good care of my babies back in the old days." "Hehe, yeah..." Patamon said with a grin.

Much to their surprise, the doorbell rang again. "I'll get it." Patamon said as Gatomon was about to go to open the door. He stood up from the armchair, hurried to the vestibule and opened the door. "Hiya, Patamon!" Said Veemon, who was standing behind the door alongside Vanessa. "Can we come in?" "Veemon?" Patamon wondered. "Oh, sure! What brings you two over here?" "We were on a walk, until the rain caught us off guard." Vanessa explained. "We were wondering, umm, if it's not too much of a problem-" "Feel free to stay here as long as you like." Patamon said. "Thanks." Veemon thanked. "Hiya, Gatomon! How are ya doin'... The both of you?" "We're fine, thank you." Gatomon replied. "Oh, hi there Elecmon!" Veemon said after spotting Elecmon. "What are you doin' here?" "The same as you, I think." Elecmon replied. Veemon and Vanessa sat down in the other two armchairs while Patamon and Gatomon sat down in the couch. "Looks like the storm's not going to stop any time soon." Patamon stated after taking a look outside. "I actually think it's going to get harder..." "I wonder what caused this, anyway." Veemon muttered. "The forces of nature can be very unpredictable at times." Vanessa stated. "I'm afraid that if the wind blows any harder, the house will be blown away..." Gatomon said in a worried tone. She felt the baby kicking in an uneasy manner.

However, Elecmon, Veemon and Vanessa weren't the only visitors Patamon and Gatomon got. Many of their friends had been caught in the storm and needed shelter, such as Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Hawkmon, and even Palmon. Patamon and Gatomon had to fetch all the chairs from the other downstairs rooms in order to have enough seats for everyone. "Well, I'm glad we built ourselves a house this big." Patamon stated with a smile. "At least we all fit here." "Yeah, but just barely." Gatomon replied. "Well, a tight roof over your head is better than no roof at all." Agumon said optimistically. "Couldn't have said it better myself." Gabumon said. "So... What are we gonna do now?" Veemon wondered. "Err, how about we play some games?" Patamon suggested. "Have ya got anything that has enough room for all of us?" Palmon asked. "I'm not sure, but I can go check-" Patamon said. That very moment, the lights went out. "Aah!" Biyomon screamed. "W-what happened?" Veemon asked worriedly. "A power outage..." Patamon explained. "Great." Gatomon sighed sarcastically. "What are we going to do now?" "Wait a second." Elecmon said. "I can use my powers to turn the electricity back on." "You can do that?" Gabumon inquire, and Elecmon nodded. "Sure." He replied. "Super Thunder Strike!" Elecmon acted as an electric generator that provided power for the time being. "Hey, the lights turned back on!" Hawkmon exclaimed.

"Hmm?" Patamon wondered after taking a look outside. "Uh-oh..." "What's wrong?" Gatomon asked. Patamon rushed to the kitchen, grabbed the radio, brought it to the living room and turned it on. "...Now a special broadcast." The newsreader started. "A hurricane has been spotted in the eastern regions of File Island." Biyomon, Palmon and Vanessa gasped out of shock; Everyone else looked relatively shocked. "Gosh darnit." Veemon cursed quietly. "If you live on File Island, we suggest that you'll evacuate to somewhere else." The newsreader finished. "Oh no, what're we gonna do?" Agumon asked worriedly. "I guess we should flee to somewhere else, like Server Continent." Hawkmon suggested. "But we can't just leave our homes to be destroyed by the hurricane!" Patamon exclaimed. "This is our house. We built it together, and I'll let a lousy tornado destroy it only over my dead body." "Well said, Patamon, well said." Veemon said, and patted Patamon's back. "Well, what are we going to do then?" Palmon asked. "We'll have to stop the hurricane." Veemon stated. "And there's only one way to do so..." "We're gonna have to fight it." Patamon said. "B-but... That's too dangerous!" Gatomon yelped. "It's the only thing we can do." Patamon stated. "Who's with me?" Veemon, Agumon, Gabumon and Hawkmon all raised their hands. "Okay then, let's get going." "...B-be careful." Gatomon whispered. Patamon smiled gently, and said "We will." before sharing a kiss with her and rushing outside with Agumon, Gabumon, Veemon and Hawkmon.

"Whoa, that thing is huge!" Agumon said as he looked at the hurricane. "So what's the plan?" Gabumon asked. "Well, we're going to have to destroy it." Patamon started. "I think it'd be better to digivolve first." "Good idea." Hawkmon said. The five Rookies digivolved to Angemon, ExVeemon, MetalGreymon, WereGarurumon and Aquilamon. "Alright then," Angemon said. "Let's go!" They charged at the hurricane, while avoiding getting sucked into it. "Hand of Fate!" Angemon's attack pierced the hurricane, creating a small hole in the middle. "Vee Laser!" "Giga Blaster!" "Wolf Claw!" "Blast Rings!" Everyone else attacked the tornado as well, but their attacks didn't seem to have any effect on the column of air. "It's not working!" Aquilamon exclaimed. "We have to think of something else!" "But what could we possibly do?" WereGarurumon wondered. "Hmm..." Angemon muttered. "Watch out!" ExVeemon yelled. The hurricane was getting closer, and started sucking the digimon towards it. "Hang on!" MetalGreymon shouted. The other four grabbed MetalGreymon's arm while MetalGreymon shot his metal claw to the ground, effectively anchoring himself. "Wait... Now I know!" Angemon exclaimed. "MetalGreymon, digivolve!" "O, okay." MetalGreymon replied. He and Angemon digivolved to WarGreymon and MagnaAngemon. "WarGreymon!" MagnaAngemon started. "Use Great Tornado on the hurricane!" "Hmm... I see what you're talking about." WarGreymon said. He performed a Great Tornado, and allowed the hurricane to suck himself inside. Now he was in control of the hurricane. "Gate of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon created a portal in midair. "Now, guide the hurricane inside!" "I'm working on it!" WarGreymon replied. "Hyaaagh!" He launched the tornado directly at the gate. The gate sucked the hurricane into another dimension before vanishing.

"We did it!" ExVeemon cheered. The five de-digivolved back to Rookies. "Look!" Agumon said and pointed at the sky. The storm had seemingly ended: The clouds had moved away, and there was no more rain. "Phew... Finally!" Patamon said happily. "I was afraid that this storm would never end... Come on guys, let's go back home!" "What a good idea." Gabumon said, and the five started walking back home. "They're back!" Palmon exclaimed after spotting them walking outside. "Hi there." Patamon said as he stepped into the house. "You did it, guys!" Biyomon cheered. "Yeah, you're the best!" Palmon stated. "Well, I don't know about that..." Patamon muttered and blushed a little. Vanessa hugged Veemon and gave him a kiss. "You're alive." Vanessa whispered with a tear of joy in her eye. "Of course." Veemon replied, grinned and blinked. "It takes more than a hurricane, or even a herd of Mammothmon, to get rid of me!" "Yeah..." Vanessa chuckled. Patamon and Gatomon looked at one another. "I-" Gatomon started. Patamon placed his finger on Gatomon's mouth. "Don't say anything." He whispered. "There's no need for words." Gatomon understood, and instead shared a kiss with Patamon. "Well, I'll have to get going now." Elecmon said. "I need to make sure my babies are alright." "I see." Patamon muttered. "Well, see ya guys later." Elecmon said before leaving. "Bye!" The others exclaimed. "I think we should get going as well." Vanessa said to Veemon, who nodded. One by one, the guests left, until Patamon and Gatomon were on their own.

"Uhm..." Patamon started. "What is it?" Gatomon wondered. "A... Are you proud of me?" Patamon asked quietly. Gatomon looked at him in a funny way. "Of course I am." She eventually said, and stroke Patamon's cheek. "YOu did a man's job." Patamon smiled weakly, and mumbled "Thanks." "Is everything alright?" Gatomon wondered. "You seem to be a little sad for some reason." "Oh, I just," Patamon said. "I've been wondering if I'm going to be a good father to our child..." "You will be." Gatomon stated. "But not only a good father: You're going to be a great one." "Thank you so much." Patamon thanked. "I'm just telling you the truth, honey." Gatomon said and gave Patamon a kiss. "Now then, I think we should go to bed. It is pretty late..." "Yeah, I agree." Patamon yawned. The two went their bedroom and climbed in their beds. "Good night." Gatomon said to Patamon. "G'night." Patamon replied before falling asleep. Patamon dreamed that he and Gatomon were in T.K's aparment. It was the time: Gatomon was about to give birth to their daughter. "It's okay, Gatomon." Patamon whispered. Gatomon was breathing fast: She was clearly in pain. "Everything's going to be fine. Just try to push as hard as you can." "I-I'll try..." Gatomon gasped. "Okay then: One, two, three, now PUSH!" Patamon exclaimed. Gatomon pushed as hard as she could, and managed to push the baby out. "Look!" Patamon said. He carefully wrapped the baby in a cloth and took her in his arms. "It's... It's our daughter." He showed the baby to Gatomon, who smiled weakly. "G, great." Gatomon whispered. She suddenly gasped again. "W-what's wrong?" Patamon asked, looking very concerned. "I... I..." Gatomon muttered. "Gatomon, you're fading away!" Patamon yelped. "I'm not gonna make it." Gatomon stated. "You have to take care of our baby on your own." "Nooo!" Patamon cried as Gatomon passed away. "You can't leave me like this, Gatomon! I loved you! I loved you..."

"Aagh!" Patamon yelled, and woke up. He was really sweaty. "Damnit... Not another nightmare!" He thought. However, Patamon felt that something was wrong. "But... Was it really a nightmare?" He wondered. "It felt more like some sort of flashback... Or flash forward." Patamon then took a look at Gatomon's bed. Gatomon was in deep sleep, breathing calmly. "I love her." Patamon thought with a smile. He climbed out of his bed, walked downstairs and went outside to fetch the mail. Patamon spotted that the trash can hadn't been knocked over anymore. Instead, there was a letter on top of the trash can cover. "Huh? What's this?" Patamon wondered. He grabbed the letter and opened it. The letter had the words 'TAHNK U' written on it, with a paw mark in the bottom right corner. Patamon smiled slightly, and looked around. "Well, I don't know whether or not you can hear me," He started. "But you're welcome!" He then returned back inside. Gatomon was in the kitchen, having just woken up. "Oh, hello- *YAWN* -Patamon." She greeted Patamon. "Hi, sweetie." Patamon replied, and gave her a kiss. "Did you sleep well?" "Yeah." Gatomon said. "The baby didn't even wake me up in the middle of the night!" "That's great." Patamon muttered, and looked directly into Gatomon's eyes. "What?" Gatomon asked with a chuckle. "Gatomon," Patamon started. "Will you promise me that you'll never leave me?" "Huh?" Gatomon said in a surprised manner. She just stared at Patamon for a moment before eventually saying "Of course I promise." "Thanks, Gatomon." Patamon whispered, and gave her a hug.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Week 28 of Gatomon's pregnancy. Patamon thought that he had learned to control his nightmares, but the same nightmare of Gatomon giving birth to their daughter and then dying afterwards repeated almost every night, and it was driving Patamon crazy. He decided to not mention anything about this to Gatomon since he didn't want to worry her. Instead, he decided to speak with T.K. and Kari and see if they could help him. "Hmm... Recurring nightmares, eh?" Kari asked, and Patamon nodded. "When you see the same dream over and over again, it usually means something. Is there something that you've forgotten to do?" "N-no, at least I think so." Patamon replied honestly. "Maybe it's something in your subconscious mind." Kari suggested. "Try to think hard: Is there anything you think might have caused all this?" "Well, not really." Patamon muttered. "Well, other than... I'm just really worried about Gatomon and the baby in general. I don't want anything bad happen to them." "That's completely normal." T.K. stated. "It's because you love them so much. I wouldn't want anything bad happen to Kari, either." Kari smiled a bit, but didn't say anything. "Well, thanks anyway guys." Patamon thanked. "Now if you excuse me, I need to see how my love is doing." "Okay. See you later." T.K. said. "Bye bye!" Kari exclaimed, and Patamon left.

Gatomon wasn't really doing that well either. Her leg cramps and the pain in her lower back had started to get worse due to her increasing girth, not to mention she experienced minor itching. "Euurgh..." Gatomon groaned while trying to scratch her back. "Have I got lice or something?" "Honey, I'm home!" Patamon said after he returned home. "Hi there..." Gatomon muttered while still trying to scratch her back. "Umm, are you alright?" Patamon wondered. "Not really." Gatomon admitted. "My back's itching like there's no tomorrow, and I can't reach my back-" "Hold on." Patamon said, and then started massaging Gatomon's back. "Oh!" Gatomon yelped out of surprise. Patamon rubbed her back for a while. "Feeling any better?" Patamon asked. "Mmmm..." Gatomon murmured and purred happily. "Yeah, the itch is all gone, and so is the minor back pain I had. Thanks Patamon, you're so good at this." "Well, thank you for the compliment." Patamon thanked. He looked a little self-satisfied. "You really know how to make your girl feel better." Gatomon stated. "And I think that the baby agrees as well." She added after feeling the baby lightly kicking her belly. Patamon smiled, and said "It's only because I love you so much." "I love you too." Gatomon replied, and kissed him.

"Hmm." Kari mumbled. She was sitting at a desk, holding a pencil. There was a sheet of paper on the desk. "Let's see now..." "Kari?" Asked T.K, who had just stepped in the room. "Yeah?" Kari replied. "May I ask you, what are you doing?" T.K. wondered. "I'm planning the baby shower." Kari explained. "E-eh?" T.K. wondered. "Umm, don't you think it's a little too early to think about things like that? I mean, you're not even pregnant yet or anything-" "I wasn't talking about myself, dummy!" Kari giggled. "I mean the baby shower for Gatomon!" "Aah." T.K. said, finally understanding what Kari meant. "I see. Is there anything I could do to help you out?" "Not at the moment, thanks." Kari replied. "I'm still at the developing stage." "Hmm... I think I should plan something for Patamon as well." T.K. stated. "You mean, so you girls can have fun without us making fun of you." Kari looked at him funnily, but remained quiet. "Hmm, let's see... Who should I invite?" Kari thought. "Usually you invite the friends and family of the mother-to-be, but I don't think that any of Gatomon's relatives are alive anymore, other than Gina, who's... Not well." Kari sighed quietly. "Poor Gatomon... She's lost all of her family." She tapped the pen a couple times. "Oh well, at least she's got a loving boyfriend with her." Kari smiled slightly as she started writing on the piece of paper.

"Damn it..." Patamon cursed after waking up from yet another nightmare. "What's wrong with me? Every night I see this very same nightmare... And there's nothing I can do about it!" He was sitting on his bed, lost in his thoughts. "But... WHY is it always the same nightmare?" Patamon wondered. "Is this some sort of sign? Or... Or am I just going completely insane?" Patamon sighed quietly and climbed out of the bed. "I'll have to get that out of my head." He muttered while walking down the steps. "I just have to think of something else... It's just a ridiculous nightmare. Gatomon's here, alive and well." Gatomon indeed was alive, sitting at the kitchen table and drinking coffee. "Morning." Patamon greeted her, and gave her a kiss to the cheek. "Hello." Gatomon replied. "How are you feeling today?" Patamon asked. "We're both fine, thanks." Gatomon said as the baby kicked her stomach. "That's great." Patamon said happily. Suddenly, the phone rang. "I'll get it." Patamon said as Gatomon was about to stand up, and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" He answered to the phone. "Yes, this is Patamon speaking- Oh, hiya T.K! Yeah, we're fine, thank you. So why did you call me? ...Oh, really? Okay then, I'll be there in a minute. See ya!" Patamon hung up, and put the phone back on the table.

"It was T.K." Patamon explained. "He asked me to come over to his apartment for some reason." "I see." Gatomon said. "Well, see you later then." "Yeah, bye." Patamon replied, kissed Gatomon and gently patted her belly before leaving. "Well, looks like it's just you and me then." Gatomon said to the baby, not being sure whether or not the baby understood. "I guess we could do some mother and daughter-stuff together, heh heh..." Gatomon soon heard the doorbell ringing. "Hmm? I wonder who it is... Did Patamon return already?" She went to open the door, and much to her surprise Kari was standing outside. "Hi, Gatomon!" Kari said cheerfully. She was carrying two packages in one hand and a huge plastic bag in the other. "Kari?" Gatomon asked out of surprise. "Can I come in?" Kari wondered. "O-oh, sure!" Gatomon replied. "Come on in! What are you doing here?" "Well, I've organized a little... Surprise for you." Kari explained with a suspicious smile. "Just sit down for a while and relax, the others will come soon enough." "The others?" Gatomon muttered. "Who are you talking about?" "Only Biyomon, Palmon, Sora, Mimi and Yolei." Kari replied. "...What exactly is this surprise you've planned?" Gatomon inquired. "Just a small thing called baby shower." Kari explained. "It's a celebration held for the soon to be mother by her friends and family. We'll give presents for the baby and just relax and have fun together." "Kari, I... I..." Gatomon started. She was touched by Kari's kindness, and a tear dropped from her eye. "Thanks." "You're welcome." Kari replied happily.

While Gatomon's baby shower was being held in her and Patamon's house, T.K. decided to throw a party in Patamon's honour, partly as a reason to celebrate the soon to be father Patamon, partly in order to let the girls have their own party so that they could act as 'girly' as sentimental as they want without the boys teasing them or making any comments. All of the male DigiDestined, their digimon partners and Hawkmon showed up at T.K's aparment, each bringing their own food and drinks. "Alrighty then," T.K. started after everyone arrived, and clapped his hands together. "I guess we can start the party now." "Alright!" Davis, Veemon, Tai and Matt cheered, and everyone else looked excited as well... Apart from Ken, who was sitting in a corner, moping and sighing every once in a while. T.K. and Patamon both noticed this. "Hey, what's wrong with Ken?" T.K. asked Davis. "He's been like that for quite a while now..." "Is his past as the Digital Emperor tormenting him again?" Patamon wondered. "Oh, it's not that." Davis started, looked at Ken, and hesitated for a moment before eventually telling what's going on. "Umm... Ken and Yolei got in a really flaming argument a week ago, and now, well, Ken's afraid that he's lost Yolei for good." "Aww, poor Ken." Patamon said sympathetically. "What were they arguing about, anyway?" T.K. wondered. "Well, Yolei said that Ken was neglecting her, while Ken claimed that Yolei had no idea what he was going through or how busy he was at the time, and..." Davis explained. "Oh." T.K. muttered. "Maybe we should try to cheer him up." Patamon suggested. "Wormmon has already tried that, but Ken's so heartbroken he won't listen." Veemon sighed. "I do hope that he and Yolei get back together." T.K. said. "We all do." Cody stated as they looked at the depressed Ken.

The female DigiDestined, Palmon and Biyomon had also already started the celebration at Gatomon's house. Yolei seemed to be the exact opposite when compared to Ken: She was loud, eneregetic and optimistic. Or at least that's how she acted: Kari told Gatomon about Yolei and Ken's argument. "What?" Gatomon exclaimed. "Shh!" Kari whispered. "Oh, sorry." Gatomon apologized quietly. "But... Just look at Yolei! Judging by her actions, there's no way to tell she had broken up with Ken." "I know." Kari said with a sigh. "She's just trying to cover her sadness, but she acts way too cheerful to be believable." "I see." Gatomon muttered. "Do you think that she misses Ken?" "I'm sure of it." Kari stated. "But you know how stubborn Yolei is: She won't get back together with Ken unless he crawls back to her and apologises first." The two remained silent for a while, until Gatomon felt the baby kicking again. "Hmm, she seems to be excited about you girls coming here." Gatomon said happily. Kari smiled, and said "That's so nice. Would you want to drink something?" "Thanks, but I can get it myself-" Gatomon started. "Hey, this is your day, Gatomon." Kari interrupted. "Just sit back and enjoy yourself. We'll do everything for you." "Please not everything!" Gatomon begged. "Because I want to have some fun myself as well, not you guys to have fun FOR me!" They all laughed for a while. "Come on gals!" Yolei cheered. "Let's play something!"

Meanwhile, at T.K's house, everyone else was partying while Davis and T.K. tried to cheer Ken up. "Hey, c'mon Ken!" Davis started and slapped Ken's back. "You've got to cheer up and have some fun! Yolei dumped you, so what! There's plenty of fish in the ocean, you'll get yourself a new girl in no time-" "You don't understand." Ken whispered. "I, I don't want a new girl... I want Yolei. I love her." "I know, I know." T.K. said gently. "I understand you perfectly. I would never want to leave Kari, for example." "Well, maybe you should try to talk with Yolei." Davis suggested. Ken just snorted coldly. "Never." He muttered. "Girls always expect the guy to be the one who'll eventually crawl back to them, but not this time! Unless Yolei comes to me and apologises first, we're over!" "I see." T.K. said in a suprisingly cold tone. He glared at Ken with a contemptuous look on his face. "So you put your pride ahead of love? That's just pathetic. I don't think you really love Yolei..." "Y-yes I do." Ken said and sighed. "I just want her to prove that she loves me..." "She does." T.K. stated. "Deep in your heart, you know that." "Maybe you're right..." Ken mumbled. "Come on buddy, cheer up and have some fun!" Davis said. "Forget about your worries for today, you'll eventually get Yolei back." "You know what, maybe you're right." Ken said with a small smile on his face that made both T.K. and Davis happy. He stood up from the chair, looking really confident. "I'll have to drag myself out of this depression." "That's the spirit!" Davis said, and slapped Ken's back again. Ken just smiled as he grabbed a glass of lemonade.

Gatomon's baby shower ended at 1:00 A.M. The guests left one by one, until only Gatomon and Kari were left. "Phew..." Gatomon sighed, and sat down on the couch. "I'm so tired." "Well, at least you don't have to clean all this mess up." Kari said optimistically. "E-eh?" Gatomon asked. "I'll do the cleaning for you." Kari explained. "Oh, no, you really don't have to-" Gatomon started. "I insist." Kari said. Gatomon hesitated for a while, but eventually gave up. She yawned, and stretched her arms. "Boy... I think I'm going to bed now." "Well, good night then." Kari said to her. Someone suddenly knocked on the door. "Hmm? I wonder who it is..." Kari went to open the door. "Hiya Kari!" Said T.K, who was standing outside with Patamon. "I just came to bring Patamon here and pick you up." "Aah, I see." Kari muttered, and looked at Patamon. "Gatomon already went to the bedroom." "I see." Patamon said, took off and flew upstairs. "So... Shall we get going?" T.K. asked Kari. "Sorry, I can't go yet." Kari replied. "I promised Gatomon I'd clean up all this mess so she wouldn't have to." "Aah, I see." T.K. muttered. "I can help you if you want." "Aww, thanks T.K." Kari thanked. "You're so sweet..." "Anything for you, my love." T.K. replied, kissed Kari and then started cleaning the house with her. Meanwhile, Patamon was having a small conversation with Gatomon. "Did you have fun?" He wondered. "I sure did." Gatomon replied happily. "What about you? Did you drink again?" "Nope." Patamon said. "I promised you I'll never drink again." "That's my Patamon." Gatomon whispered and gave him a good night kiss.

The next day, all of the Junior DigiDestined were having a meeting, which meant that both Yolei and Ken showed up. While they acted completely normal like nothing had happened, the others felt the tension between the two. One by one, Davis, T.K, Kari and Cody came up with excuses in order to leave the room, until only Yolei and Ken were left. Yolei turned her head away, and started looking really cold. Ken took a deep breath. "Yolei, I..." He started. "I want to talk to you." "Well, too bad." Yolei replied harshly. "Because I don't want to talk to YOU!" "...I want to apologise." Ken said in a shaky voice. Yolei now looked more interested than upset. "Yolei, I-I'm sorry I mistreated you and yelled at you, I really didn't mean to... The past month had been really rough, and I've been busy with my studies. But I didn't mean to hurt your feelings... Yolei, I love you." Ken's eyes were filled with tears. "I know that this is pathetic, but I beg you: Please, take me back." "...Damnit." Yolei sighed with a gentle smile. She turned around, and wiped the tears from Ken's eyes. "I can't stay mad at you. I love you too, Ken. I'm sorry I didn't realize how busy you really were, I was being so selfish." "You had the right to be." Ken stated. He gently brushed Yolei's hair. "So... Shall we get back together?" Yolei giggled once, and said "Of course." Ken and Yolei shared a passionate kiss. The four other DigiDestined were hiding behind the door. "Yes!" Davis cheered silently, while the other three just smiled.

"Whoa, looks like our friends are awfully generous." Patamon said as he looked at the pile of presents that was in the living room. "These would be enough for three babies!" "I know." Gatomon said. "I promise I'll throw Kari a baby shower that's just as good as the one she threw for me." "What exactly did you girls do last night?" Patamon wondered. "Oh, nothing special." Gatomon replied with a suspicious smile. "Just chatted, partied, played games and overall had fun. What about you guys?" "Pretty much the same." Patamon said and shrugged. "Oh, and we also watched a couple of movies as well." "That's nice-" Gatomon started. "Aah!" She suddenly screamed. "What's wrong?" Patamon asked worriedly. "I... I..." Gatomon gasped. "A contraction." Patamon looked shocked. "Oh no..." He muttered. "B-but the baby can't be born yet... Or can it?" "I-it could." Gatomon said, and flinched again. "But it'd just be a little early..." "We have to take you to a hospital." Patamon stated, grabbed the phone and dialed T.K's number. "T.K?" Patamon started. "Hi, it's Patamon here. Listen, I need your help. We need to take Gatomon to Joe. She had a contraction, and... I think she's about to give birth to the child. Okay then, thanks." He looked at Gatomon. "T.K. said he'll be here in a minute." "O-okay." Gatomon said and nodded. "Do you feel any better?" Patamon wondered. "A little." Gatomon replied. "Hey, everything's going to be alright." Patamon comforted her. However, little did Gatomon know what Patamon had in his mind: The nightmare of her dying after giving birth to their child...

"Hmm..." Joe muttered while inspecting Gatomon. "There seems to be no signs of the baby about to be born yet." "R-really?" Patamon asked, and Joe nodded. "Yes. Contractions usually occur at this point of the pregnancy." Joe explained. "They prepare the mother's body for labor." "Kari told me about that a while ago." Gatomon admitted. "But it felt a lot more painful than the usual ones- Ouch!" "Are you sure about it?" Patamon asked Joe. "Well, it shouldn't be the time of the delivery yet..." Joe muttered. "That is, unless the baby wants to be born now." Thirty minutes later, Gatomon experienced no more contractions. "Well then, it seems you are all fine now." Joe stated. "Do you want me to check the baby with ultrasound?" "That'd be nice." Gatomon replied. "Okay then." Joe said and took out the ultrasound machine while Gatomon climbed on the hospital bed. Patamon sat down next to her as Joe started scanning Gatomon's belly again. "Okay... There she is." Joe said. Patamon and Gatomon both looked at the monitor. This time, the baby was easily identifiable: It was a small Patamon baby whose eyes were shut. "She's so adorable." Gatomon whispered. "Hey there." Patamon said to Gatomon's belly. "Can you hear me?" Gatomon felt the baby kicking in her belly, which was also shown on the monitor. "Looks like she recognizes your voices." Joe stated. Patamon and Gatomon stayed there for a small while, just happily looking at their soon to be born-baby via the monitor.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Pregnancy week number 29. It was the third and the final trimester of the pregnancy. Gatomon's uterus and belly were enormous, and she had gotten a lot more extra weight all thanks to the baby. Gatomon said that her belly felt weird, almost as if there were small butterflies fluttering there. Gatomon thought that this was just pre-birth anxiety, but a talk with Kari revealed the true reason: The baby was experiencing hiccups. "Hiccups?" Gatomon wondered, and looked at her belly. "Yes." Kari replied. "It's completely normal that the baby has hiccups at this point of the pregnancy." "But what does it happen for?" Gatomon asked. "It's because the baby is practicing breathing for her birthday." "Oh." Gatomon said, looking slightly surprised. "I had no idea... It's almost as if I know nothing about being pregnant." "It's alright." Kari said, and stroke Gatomon's back. "Most women don't know a whole lot about pregnancy when they're pregnant for the first time-" "But still." Gatomon interrupted. "I should've started reading about the pregnancy as soon as I heard the news." "Well, at least you've got a friend who knows everything about pregnancy." Kari said with a blink. Gatomon smiled, and said "Can't argue with that."

"Ow!" Patamon yelped. He put his thumb in his mouth: It was all big and swollen. Patamon was in the baby's room, assembling a craddle. However, he had jammed his thumb in between two parts of the craddle. "Son of a..!" Patamon started, but quickly placed his other paw over his mouth. "No, I am NOT going to swear in my baby's room- Ouch!" Patamon had hit his foot on the craddle. Now he was hopping on one foot, holding his toes, hopping on one foot and wailing quietly. "Man... How can one stupid craddle cause so much pain and trouble?" Patamon asked himself. "But I'm not gonna give up... This is going to be the first bed of my daughter, I won't let it get the best of me!" Patamon persevered, and eventually managed to set up the craddle. "Phew..." He panted, and sighed out of relief. "Looks like I'm not as lousy builder as I thought, heh heh..." Patamon looked around the room. "Perfect." He said with a satisfied look on his face. "This should be a perfect room for our daughter. It's not huge, but not too small either. All the decorations, the wallpaper... Splendid." Patamon went downstairs, headed to the kitchen and grabbed a can of lemonade from the refrigerator. "Mmm, lemonade sure tastes good after some hard work." He stated.

"I'm home!" Gatomon yelled from the vestibule. "Welcome back." Patamon replied. Gatomon stepped into the kitchen and kissed Patamon. "How was your day?" Patamon asked her. "Oh, it was nice, thank you." Gatomon replied happily. "Kari explained where this funny feeling in my belly came from." "Really?" Patamon wondered. "What is it then?" "Well, apparently the baby has hiccups." Gatomon explained. Patamon giggled quietly. "Hehee, that sounds so cute!" He stated. "I know." Gatomon said with a smile. "I wonder what the baby thinks about it-" Patamon started, but was cut by a hiccup. "Oops... Looks like she gave me her hiccup!" "...Unless you've been drinking again." Gatomon muttered. "How long are you gonna tease me with that?" Patamon asked, looking a bit hurt. "I promised you that I'm never going to drink again, at least intentionally!" "Hey, it was only a joke." Gatomon said and tried to calm him down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Say, how about I make dinner today?" "Oh, you don't have to-" Patamon started. "But I insist." Gatomon said. "You've been so kind to me during these past 29 weeks, I want to pay you back somehow." "Well, if you really want it..." Patamon muttered. He sat down at the table while Gatomon started making dinner.

"Here you go." Gatomon said. She handed Patamon a plateful of mashed potatoes and fish. "Mmm, looks tasty." Patamon stated, and started eating the food. "Aah... You're a great chef, Gatomon." "My, thank you." Gatomon thanked with a smile as she sat down at the table and started eating herself. Suddenly, Patamon started coughing. "Patamon?" Gatomon asked worriedly. "I, I..." Patamon gasped. "Oh no, he's choking!" Gatomon thought. Patamon's face soon turned purple. Gatomon immediatly ran behind Patamon, placed her paws on Patamon's belly and pushed hard. Patamon spat out the fishbone, and took deep breaths of air. "Ghah..." He coughed. "I'm so sorry." Gatomon apologised, looking really anxious. "I thought I had deboned the fish properly..." "It's alright." Patamon muttered with a comforting smile. "You saved my life, Gatomon." Gatomon just realized what she had done. "Well... You've always been the one who's protected me." She murmured, and blushed a bit. "Umm... You probably don't want to finish your dinner, right?" "Naah, I'll eat the mashed potatoes." Patamon replied. The two sat down back at the table, with Gatomon keeping an eye on Patamon. "Hey, I promise I'm not going to choke anymore." Patamon assured Gatomon, and they both laughed.

"Thanks for the dinner." Patamon thanked after finishing the dinner. "I'm glad you liked it." Gatomon said happily and started doing the dishes. "Man..." Patamon thought, and held his belly. "I'm stuffed! Gatomon sure knows how to make a good meal..." He sat down on the couch, opened the TV and started channel surfing. However, he soon stopped as there was nothing good on the TV. "Yawn... TV's so boring nowadays!" Patamon said as he turned off the TV. "I think I'm going out for a walk, I need some fresh air. Do you want to come with me, Gatomon?" "I don't think it's such a good idea, Patamon." Gatomon started. "I saw the weather forecast for today, it's going to rain soon." "Bah, that's nonsense!" Patamon exclaimed. "Look at the sky, it's crystal clear with no clouds whatsoever!" Gatomon shook her head. "You should know by now how unpredictable the weather in the Digital World is..." She muttered. "At least take an umbrella with you!" "No thanks." Patamon refused politely. "I don't want to look like an idiot." He went outdoors before Gatomon could say anything. "Heh heh... No rain whatsoever!" Patamon chuckled. He had been walking outside for 20 minutes, and it hadn't rained at all. "Looks like the weather forecasts can sometimes be even more unpredictable than the weather itself-" Patamon was cut by a lightning. "What the heck?" He looked up, and in a millisecond, it started to rain. "B-but... This is impossible!" Patamon shook his head and quickly started running back home.

The next day, Patamon was lying in the bed. Gatomon gave him some sort of medicine. "I told you it was going to rain." She reminded Patamon. "I-I know... ACHOO!" Patamon muttered. He had caught cold for standing in the for too long. "I'm sorry, I-I should've listened to you..." Neither of them said anything for a while. "You're lucky you made it out of there alive." Gatomon stated. "Well, I don't know- Achoo!" Patamon replied. "I wasn't really in any sort of serious danger." "Well, you could've caught pneumonia in the worst case of scenario..." Gatomon said. "Anyway, looks like I'll have to take care of you for the next couple of days, until you get better." "I-I'm sorry..." Patamon apologised, and coughed again, but Gatomon just smiled gently. "It's alright." She said. "I've always wanted to be a nurse..." Gatomon moved closer to Patamon, and smiled in a seductive way. "Especially to you." She whispered to Patamon's ear. "Ooh..." Patamon said, chuckled weakly and coughed. "Maybe you should rest for now." Gatomon suggested. "Take a nap or something. And if you need anything, just ask me." "Okay. Thanks, Gatomon." Patamon said. Gatomon left the room and closed the door behind her, while Patamon happily lied on the bed with his hands behind the back of his head. "She's such a sweet 'mon." Patamon thought. "I'm lucky I got myself a girl like Gatomon..." He soon fell asleep while still lost in his happy thoughts.

Gatomon truly took good care of Patamon while he was sick. She gave him medicine, brought him something to eat, and overall treated him well, making sure that he was all fine. While Patamon really appreciated what Gatomon did to him, he was getting rather bored. Due to his illness, he couldn't go outside, but Gatomon didn't even allow him to get out of the bed. "You shouldn't push yourself." Gatomon said every time Patamon was about to get up, and placed him back in the bed. "Euurgh..." Patamon groaned. "But I need some exercise, Gatomon! I've done absolutely nothing but laze for about three days, I want to move a bit! Just a few steps, please..." "I'm sorry, but this is for your own good." Gatomon said. "Fine..." Patamon sighed. "Can I even go downstairs to use the toilet?" "Well... Alright then." Gatomon replied. She helped Patamon up, and walked him downstairs. "Hey, you really don't have to baby me like this." Patamon said. He sounded a little irritated. "I can walk on my own, thank you." "I know." Gatomon replied. "I'm just making sure that you won't escape or anything." "What, you don't- Achoo! You don't trust me?" Patamon wondered, and acted like he was hurt. Gatomon knew that he was joking, and only giggled a little. "Of course I do." She said, and was about to kiss Patamon, but Patamon didn't allow her to. "I don't want you to catch my cold." He explained. "Especially considering that you're pregnant."

T.K. and Kari decided to visit Patamon and Gatomon the next day. Gatomon and Kari were in the living room while T.K. had went upstairs and to the bedroom in order to see Patamon. "How have you been?" Kari asked Gatomon. "I've been fine, thanks." Gatomon replied, and crossed her hands. "And the baby is alright?" Kari wondered, and Gatomon nodded. "That's nice. So... How is it like to be Patamon's nurse?" "Well..." Gatomon started. "As much as I love Patamon, I have to admit that this has been a little tough job." "I understand." Kari said. "But look on the bright side: At least this gives you experience and prepares you for the baby." "Yeah, that's true." Gatomon said happily. Meanwhile, T.K. and Patamon were also chatting in Patamon's bedroom. "How have you been doin'?" T.K. wondered. "Well, I've been as fine as I could be, considering that I'm sick, heh heh..." Patamon replied and sneezed. "Although I have to admit something..." "What is it?" T.K. asked. "Umm..." Patamon started. "As much as I appreciate Gatomon's love and care, I think that she's babying me way too much. I mean, all I've got a mere cold, but she won't let me even get out of the bed!" "Uh-huh." T.K. mumbled. "I know that Gatomon does all this because she loves me, but I think she's being way too overprotective." Patamon stated. "Maybe you should try to talk with her." T.K. suggested. "I've tried to do that- Achoo!" Patamon said. "But she won't listen to me..." He took a deep breath, and sighed quietly

"Here you go, Patamon." Gatomon said as she gave Patamon some medicine. "...Thanks." Patamon muttered. His voice had become raspy and quiet. "Would you like to eat something?" Gatomon asked him. "No, thanks." Patamon replied. "Okay then." Gatomon said. "And remember: If you need something, just ask me-" Gatomon stopped in the middle of the sentence. "Hmm..." She muttered, and smelt the air. "Is it just me, or is it kind of cold here?" "I-I think it's just you." Patamon said, trying to sound innocent, and sneezed. Gatomon wasn't convinced, and pulled the curtains away. "Patamon?" She asked in a warning tone. "Why is the window open?" "Well, I, uuh, I wanted some fresh air, so..." Patamon explained with an innocent smile on his face. However, Gatomon looked really serious as she closed the window. "You should watch out, Patamon!" She said. "You could've gotten even more sick than you already are-" "Alright, listen." Patamon said, and stood up. He was finally fed up with Gatomon's overprotectiveness. "I'm tired of you babying me around!" "Patamon, don't lose your temper, it's not good for you-" Gatomon started. "Stop!" Patamon shouted as loud as he could. "I know that you love me and all, but I don't NEED all your care! I'm not a baby, Gatomon, I'm NOT a baby-" Patamon almost fainted, and fell on the floor. "Patamon!" Gatomon screamed, and quickly helped Patamon up. "Eek!" She yelped after placing her paw on Patamon's forehead. "Patamon, you, you're burning." "I... I'm alright..." Patamon mumbled and coughed. Gatomon placed Patamon back on the bed, and quickly went to call a doctor.

"I-is he alright?" Gatomon asked Joe, who had come to investigate Patamon. "It doesn't look good..." Joe muttered. Kari, who had also come to see Patamon together with T.K, gasped quietly. "He truly feels like he's burning." "Oh no..." T.K. said. "Is there anything we can do?" "We have to cool Patamon down." Joe stated. "A cold bath might help." "I, I'll take care of that." Gatomon said, wiped her tears and rushed to the bathroom. "Good." Joe said. "We also need something cold: soft drinks, ice cream, frozen food, anything." T.K. and Kari both nodded and headed to the kitchen while Joe carried Patamon to the bathroom. He placed Patamon on the bathtub filled with cold water. "Mmh..." Patamon groaned. He was nearly unconscious. "Don't worry, honey." Gatomon whispered. "I'm here besides you." "G... Gatomon..?" Patamon started. "Am I... Going to die?" Gatomon smiled gently, and said "Of course not." T.K. and Kari stepped into the bathroom, carrying all sorts of cool objects. "Aah, great." Joe said after spotting the two. T.K. and Kari put most of the things they were gathering in the bath, apart from a bag of frozen peas, which Joe placed on Patamon's forehead. After a while, Patamon's temperature had returned to almost normal. "There..." Joe muttered. Gatomon wrapped a towel around Patamon's body after T.K. had helped him out of the bathtub. "All Patamon needs now is a lot of rest." "Thanks a lot, Joe." T.K. thanked. "You saved his life." "It was my duty." Joe replied with a smile.

Patamon was standing in a large, dark area. He couldn't see anything around him. "Where am I?" Patamon wondered while looking around. "I've never seen this location in my life..." Patamon started walking around in order to find out where he was, but 15 minutes he was still lost in the dark. "Brr, this place gives me the chills!" Patamon said, sounding genuinely scared. "There is something wrong about this place... Something dark." "You're right." Someone said behind Patamon's back. "That voice..." Patamon gasped, turned around, and saw no-one else than his arch nemesis. "Devimon!" "That's right." Devimon muttered. "What do you want?" Patamon asked. "Haven't you been tormenting me enough?" "Nope." Devimon cackled. "I have come to take something you hold very dear... And now that you're sick, it's going to be easier than ever." "Stop!" Patamon shouted, and charged at Devimon, but Devimon had already took off and disappeared. "You are too weak to do anything." Devimon's voice taunted him. "You can do nothing to save your loved ones... T.K, Gatomon, your baby: They're all going to die, and it's all your fault." "Noooo!" Patamon cried. He collapsed on the ground, sobbing. "T-this can't be... I'm trapped here, while D-Devimon's going to kill everybody... What can I-" "Patamon!" Patamon turned his head, and saw Gatomon standing right next to him. "Gatomon!" Patamon yelled. He looked excited, and went to hug Gatomon. "You... You're still alive..." He muttered. "Of course I am." Gatomon replied. "As long as we're in one anothers' hearts, we're all safe." "That's true." Patamon said with a smile, and kissed Gatomon.

"He's awake!" Gatomon exclaimed as Patamon opened his eyes a little. "Oof..." Patamon murmured quietly. "Patamon!" T.K. exclaimed. "Patamon, are you alright?" "How do you feel?" Gatomon asked Patamon. "I feel... Warm." Patamon said. "But what happened? I don't remember anything..." "You, you blacked out." Gatomon explained. "Y-you started yelling at me, then you fainted... Your body temperature was extremely high. I called Joe, and we put you in a cold bath to lower your body heat back to normal." "Oh." Patamon uttered. "I see." "It's a good thing you're better now." Kari said happily. "I'm so sorry, Patamon." Gatomon apologised. "I never should have coddled you or be too overprotective..." "Hey, it's not your fault." Patamon said quietly, and stroke Gatomon's cheek. "It was all my fault, I should have never lost my temper over something so small." "N-no, you were right." Gatomon said. "I was too worried about you-" "Which only proves how much you love Patamon." Kari stated. "Yeah." Patamon said. "You only wanted me to feel good, even when I was sick... And I acted like a whiny little brat. Ah, well... At least I learned one valuable lesson today." "Huh?" T.K. wondered. "Never get angry to Gatomon when you've got cold." Patamon said, and everyone else laughed. Gatomon felt the baby kicking in an excited way, almost as if it was laughing herself. "Looks like the baby's also happy that you're alive, too." Gatomon stated. "Really?" Patamon wondered, and placed his paw on Gatomon's belly. He smiled after he felt that the baby kicked, and shared a kiss with Gatomon.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Week 30 of Gatomon's pregnancy. Patamon felt a lot better since he wasn't sick anymore, but Gatomon, in turn, felt more tired and heavy. She seemingly had lost all of the energy she had in the second trimester, and now took more breaks and such every time Patamon suggested she would need to rest. The mood swings had also returned, meaning that Gatomon would sometimes get on everyone's nerves a bit. While Gatomon had learned to control her maternal instincts during the past couple of months, but now she felt that she couldn't control them that well anymore: Every time Patamon or anyone else tried to touch her belly, she would immediatly hiss and sometimes even attempt to claw them. "I'm sorry..." Gatomon apologised every time this happened. "It's okay." Patamon replied when Gatomon had nearly attacked him. "Your instincts are something you can't control." "B-but I have done so during the past few months!" Gatomon stated. "What's gotten into me..." "Maybe it's because of how much our baby has grown." Patamon suggested. "She'll be born soon, and you want to protect her from the dangerous world." "Yeah, maybe..." Gatomon muttered, but felt slightly embarrassed.

"I'm a weakling." Gatomon stated. "No you're not!" Patamon exclaimed. "What makes you say that?" "I can't even control my own emotions..." Gatomon sighed. "It's okay." Patamon comforted her. "It's completely normal... You're a woman, and a pregnant one at that-" "So you're saying that no woman can control their emotions?" Gatomon asked with an angry look on her face. "O-oh, no no no!" Patamon said quickly and shook his head. "I didn't mean that, not at all! Women are just a bit more sentimental than men are, and because of the pregnancy, your hormones are running wild, which makes your emotions and instincts even harder to control. It has nothing to do with your strength or anything like that." "Mmh..." Gatomon mumbled. "Trust me," Patamon said. "You're just as strong as anyone else... In fact, I have to say that you're probably the strongest female I've ever met in my entire life." "Aww, thank you so much Patamon." Gatomon thanked happily. Patamon smiled gently, stroke Gatomon's cheek and replied "You're welcome, love." before kissing Gatomon. "I love you, Patamon." Gatomon whispered. "I love you too, Gatomon." Patamon replied quietly before kissing Gatomon again.

"Eurgh..." T.K. groaned, and yawned. "What's wrong?" Kari asked him. "I'm bored out of my mind..." T.K. said with a sigh. "Oh my... Why is that?" Kari wondered. "I dunno, really." T.K. admitted. "I guess it's because we haven't been on any kind of grand adventures since the whole Dragomon incident." "Aah, I see." Kari murmured. "I want some action!" T.K. exclaimed. "I want to fight monsters, save the worlds, put myself in danger-" "Endanger the lives of your loved ones?" Kari joked, and they both laughed quietly. "But yeah." T.K. sighed. "I need some change in my life... And I don't mean anything radical like someone dying, I just want to do something exciting." "Maybe you should try some sort of extreme sports." Kari suggested. "Like skydiving or free climbing or-" "Would you like me to do that?" T.k. asked. "Who, me?" Kari wondered. "Well... I have to admit, I wouldn't want you to start doing such things-" "That's the problem." T.K. stated. "That's what makes saving the world and fighting evil better: At least you'd allow it, and maybe even join me in doing so." "I see what you mean." Kari said. "Even a small adventure would be worth it..." T.K. stated, and sighed again.

"Lower... Lower..." Gatomon said. Patamon was about to hang a portrait on the living room wall. "Now a bit to the left..." Gatomon instructed him. "There!" "Okay then..." Patamon muttered. He grabbed a hammer, and nailed the portrait to the wall. "There. How is it?" "It looks good." Gatomon stated. "The baby likes it, too." She added after feeling the baby gently kicking her belly. "Speaking of the baby, have you thought of any kind of name for her yet?" "Well... To be honest, no." Patamon replied. "I've tried to think one every once in a while, but it just keeps slipping out of my mind." "I see." Gatomon said. "But we can't just call her Patamon Junior or anything like that, it'd be redundant... Especially considering that it's a she." "You're right." Patamon muttered. "Her name should be something short and sweet... Something pretty, something fitting... Something that suits a female Patamon." The two thought for a while, but didn't come up with any suitable names for their daughter. "Oh well," Patamon said with a shrug. "We can come up with one later on." "Yeah, but I still think it'd be good if we had a name ready for her when she's born." Gatomon stated. "It won't be good if the baby is unnamed during the beginning of her life."

That night, Patamon had a dream of his daughter. Patamon was in the living room watching TV, while his daughter was lying on the floor, drawing pictures. She was a white female Patamon covered in purple stripes. "Look, Papa!" She said after she finished drawing the picture, and showed Patamon the picture. "Let's see..." Patamon said as he looked at the picture. His daughter had drawn a picture of Patamon, Gatomon and herself. "Aww, that's so sweet, honey!" "You like it?" Patamon's daughter wondered, and Patamon nodded as a reply. "Yeah. You're a great artist." Patamon stated, making his daughter blush slightly. Gatomon stepped into the living room. "She's beautiful." Gatomon whispered to Patamon. "I know." Patamon replied with a smile. "Our precious daughter, Pa-" All of a sudden, the phone rang. "I'll get it." Patamon said, and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" "Time to wake up." Someone said from the other end of the phone. "Whoa!" Patamon yelped as he woke up. "Oh, maaan! I was this close to knowing our daughters' name... What a lousy moment to wake up!" Patamon sighed quietly as he got up from the bed and went downstairs where Gatomon had already made breakfast for him. "Aah, good morning, Patamon." Gatomon greeted Patamon and gave him a small kiss. "Sit down if you want, I'll give you a cup of coffee." "Thank you." Patamon thanked, and sat down.

"I dreamed about the baby last night." Patamon said to Gatomon. "Really?" Gatomon wondered. "Yeah..." Patamon sighed. "And I was THIS close to hearing the name of our baby!" "Oh, too bad you didn't." Gatomon muttered. "I do remember that it started with a P." Patamon said. "But I don't remember anything else." After the two had finished eating breakfast, someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it." Patamon said, stood up and went to open the door. "Kari?" "Hi there." Said Kari, who was standing outside. "Did I wake you up?" "No, we had just finished breakfast." Patamon replied. "What are you doing here?" "I need to talk with you." Kari stated. "Can I come in?" "Oh, sure." Patamon said, and stepped out of the way so Kari could come in. "Hiya, Gatomon!" Kari said to Gatomon. "oh, hi Kari!" Gatomon greeted her. "What a pleasant surprise! How are you?" "I'm fine, thanks for asking." Kari replied happily. "And what about you? And the baby?" "We're all fine, thank you." Patamon said. "Please sit down." Gatomon said, and Kari sat down. "So... Why did you come here in the first place?" "You said you wanted to talk with us." Patamon said with a curious look on his face. "That's right." Kari muttered, and took a deep breath.

"It's about T.K." Kari stated. "What about him?" Patamon wondered. "He says he's bored because there hasn't been any kind of adventures lately." Kari explained. "I know how he feels." Patamon stated. "I've been a little bored lately myself, too." "But at least you're going to have a child with Gatomon." Kari said. "This whole pregnancy should be pretty exciting, right?" "Well, you're right," Patamon admitted. "But a proper adventure would still be fun." "T.K. thinks so, too." Kari said. "Hmm... I think you've came here to tell us something more than just that." Gatomon said. "Indeed I have." Kari stated. "We need to set up an adventure for T.K." "But... How?" Patamon asked. "It's quite easy, actually." Kari said with a smile. "We just have to put me in some sort of danger so that T.K. can rescue me-" "No!" Gatomon and Patamon both yelped at the same time. "I-I mean," Gatomon started after seeing how surprised Kari was. "Isn't there any other way?" "Yeah, we shouldn't endanger your life, especially considering the whole Dragomon incident!" Patamon stated. "I don't care." Kari said. "I don't want my poor T.K. to be all bored, I want him to be his usual happy and energetic self." "Aww, that's so sweet." Gatomon said with a small smile. "I've actually got a plan ready." Kari stated. "Listen..."

After hearing Kari's plan, Patamon asked "Are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes." Kari replied. "Don't worry, it's all going to be only a setup. I won't be in any kind of real danger." "I don't know about this..." Gatomon muttered in a worried manner. "But, if you really want to do this, fine." "Thanks, Gatomon." Kari thanked with a smile. "You're a true friend." "When do you plan to do this?" Patamon asked Kari. "As soon as possible." Kari said. "We can go right away... If it's okay for you guys." "...Fine." Gatomon sighed, and the three of them left the house. "Now then... First, we need to find a suitable cave for our plan." Kari stated as they searched around. "Hmmm... There!" Patamon exclaimed, and pointed at a cave that was a couple hundred feet away. "Let's see." Kari mumbled as they inspected the cave. "This is just perfect!" She stepped inside the cave while the other two waited outside. "Okay then, do you two know what to do?" "Y-yes, I think." Gatomon replied with a gulp. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" "Yes." Kari said confidently. Patamon and Gatomon attacked the cave which caused a rockslide that blocked the cave mouth. "Kari!" Gatomon shouted. "Are you alright?" "I'm all fine!" Kari yelled from the cave. "Patamon, go get T.K. and tell him that I'm in trouble!" "Okay!" Patamon replied, and was about to take off.

"Hmm?" Kari wondered, and looked around. "I think I heard something..." "What is it, Kari?" Gatomon asked. Suddenly, the cave started shaking hard. Kari heard someone coming her way. "HEEEELP!" Kari screamed. "There's someone else here!" "Oh no!" Gatomon yelled. "Patamon, go get some help! I'll try to save Kari!" "O-okay!" Patamon said and took off. Gatomon jumped on the pile of rocks that was blocking the cave entrance, and tried to pull the rocks away, to no avail. "Hngh!" Gatomon grunted. "It's no use... The pregnancy has drained all of my energy." Patamon rushed to the nearest Gate he could find, and quickly entered the Real World. "T.K's apartment..." He thought. "Patamon?" Asked T.K, who was sitting on his bed, reading a book. "T.K!" Patamon exclaimed. "Hey, what's the matter, pal?" T.K. asked him. "Come quick!" Patamon said. "Kari's in trouble!" "What?" T.K. yelped, and immediatly jumped up. "W-we were venturing in a cave in the Digital World, but there was someone else in there... Gatomon and I managed to get out of there before the cave was blocked by a rockslide, but Kari got stuck in there!" "Oh no." T.K. uttered. He quickly got dressed in proper clothing, grabbed his Digivice and D-Terminal, and rushed to the Digital World with Patamon. "Now then, let's get going before Kari gets hurt... Or even worse!" T.K. said to Patamon, who nodded, and the two started running to the cave.

"Aaaah!" Kari screamed while running away from an amok digimon. It was so dark that she couldn't see who the digimon was, but she thought it was a Monochromon or a Vermilimon. "This wasn't a good idea, this wasn't a good idea, this really wasn't a good idea!" She weeped while running for her life. "Just hang in there, Kari!" Gatomon shouted with tears in her eyes. "T.K. and Patamon are on their way, they'll be here soon enough! ...I hope." "I sure hope so!" Kari panted. "I can't go on much longer..." Kari nearly fainted out of exhaustion, but she had to keep on running, otherwise she'd get squashed by the rampaging digimon. However, Kari soon got cornered: There was no where to run or hide. "Oh no..." Kari sobbed. "Looks like this is the end then... Well, goodbye, Gatomon, T.K, and everyone else..." She covered her head in fear, preparing to die, when... "Hand of Fate!" A golden beam of light blasted through the pile of rocks, creating a huge hole in the cave. "Kari!" T.K. yelled, and climbed into the cave and helped Kari up while Angemon started fighting the amok digimon, who turned out to be a Monochromon. "Kari, are you alright?" T.K. asked worriedly. "I-I'm alright." Kari panted, and held her chest. "Thanks, guys. You came just in time." T.K. smiled, and then looked at the two digimon who were still fighting "Hiyah!" Angemon shouted, and pushed Monochromon against the wall, knocking it out.

"Good job, Angemon!" T.K. cheered. Angemon smiled at first, but then looked cautious. "W-what's going on?" Kari wondered as the ground under their feet started to shake. "Uh-oh, the cave's going to collapse!" Gatomon yelped. "Let's get out of here!" T.K, Kari, Angemon and Gatomon managed to get out of the cave in time before it would collapse on them. "Phew... We were just in time!" T.K. stated. "Yeah..." Kari muttered. "Thank you, T.K. and Angemon. You saved my life." "Don't mention it." T.K. replied with a grin. "You're welcome, Kari." Said Angemon, who had just de-digivolved back to Patamon. "Umm..." Kari started, and looked at T.K. "What?" T.k. wondered. "How do you feel, T.K?" Kari asked him. T.K. looked rather confused. "Eh?" He said. "You were rather bored a few days ago." Kari explained. "You said you were in a need of an adventure, so... How do you feel now?" "Now that you mention it," T.K. started. "I actually feel energetic and refreshed." "Alright!" Patamon cheered. "Looks like our plan worked-" "Shh!" Kari whispered, and Patamon immediatly closed his mouth. "Plan?" T.K. wondered. "What plan?" "Well, umm..." Kari looked a little embarrassed. "T.K, we... We came up with a plan in order to cheer you up. Patamon and Gatomon trapped me in a cave, and then Patamon was supposed to get you and save me, but there was a Monochromon in the cave as well, which made this more than a setup." "Oh." T.K. uttered. "W-we're sorry, T.K-" Kari apologised.

"Let's see if I got this straight," T.K. started. "You trapped yourself in a cave with a wild Monochromon, put yourself in danger, nearly got yourself killed, just to cheer me up?" "Well... Yes." Kari mumbled. Patamon and Gatomon both looked at one another, but much to their surprise T.K. hugged Kari tight. He had a very grateful look on his face. "Kari." He muttered. "I had no idea you loved me so much... You actually endangered yourself just so that I wouldn't be bored anymore. How can I ever thank you enough?" "Just promise me you won't get bored like that anymore." Kari replied with a weird smile. "I really wouldn't want to do this again." "Hehe, I understand." T.K. said and chuckled. "Come on guys, let's go back home!" Gatomon said. The other three agreed, and they started going home. Later that night, Patamon had another dream about the baby. He was about to put the baby in bed, but the baby couldn't sleep. "Papa?" She asked. "Yes?" Patamon replied. "Could you tell me a bedtime story?" His daughter wondered. "Oh, sure." Patamon said with a smile, and started telling stories of his own adventures in the Digital World. "...And that's how I defeated Devimon and saved the Digital World." He finished the story. "Whoa..." His daughter said in awe. "You're a true hero, Papa!" "Well, I don't know about that..." Patamon mumbled with a brief blush on his face. His daughter yawned and stretched her arms while Patamon covered her with a blanket. "Good night, Papa." She said, closed her eyes and began to sleep. Patamon gently stroke her head, smiled, and whispered "Good night... Patty."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Pregnancy week number 32. Gatomon's belly and uterus were bigger than ever before. However, because of this, she had heartburns and indigestion sometimes, and even had a sense of breathlessness. Gatomon's back and bottom also felt painful because her center of gravity shifted. Gatomon had also some difficulties with falling asleep, but other than that she was doing pretty well. Her hips had also expanded, and her ligaments stretched: This helped her body to prepare for labor. Patamon had no memories of his dream about the baby, which meant he didn't remember the baby's name anymore. "Oh well," He thought with a shrug. "Maybe I'll remember it later on." He looked out of the window. Gatomon was outside, taking care of the garden. Patamon had offered his help earlier on that day, but Gatomon politely refused, saying she could take care of the garden herself. "Mmm..." Gatomon murmured after smelling the flowers. "The roses are really in a good shape today, and so are the azaleas- Ow!" She had a sudden contraction. "Ow ow ow ow ow..." Patamon noticed this, and rushed outside to help Gatomon.

"Are you alright?" Patamon asked worriedly. "I, I'm fine." Gatomon replied: She was breathing heavily. "It just happened so suddenly, that's all." Patamon carefully helped her up. "Thanks." "Are you sure you're alright?" Patamon muttered. "Maybe you should take a break, or-" "Patamon, I'm alright." Gatomon stated, and looked slightly annoyed. "S-sorry." Patamon apologised. "I'm just worried about you, and the baby as well." "I know, I know." Gatomon sighed. "Sorry, I'm a little tired, that's all." "I can help you." Patamon suggested. "No thanks-" Gatomon started, but Patamon interrupted her. "I insist." He said. "Weeell... As you wish." Gatomon said, allowing Patamon to help her. Patamon and Gatomon watered the plants, picked insects off the flowers and got rid of all sorts of harmful plants. "Hmm..." Patamon muttered, and looked around the garden. "It looks great now." "Yeah. Thanks, Patamon." Gatomon thanked. Patamon said "You're welcome, honey." and gave Gatomon a kiss. "I'm getting a little thirsty..." "Yeah, me too." Gatomon said. "Let's have something to drink." "Sounds good to me." Patamon said with a smile as the two returned back indoors.

Patamon and Gatomon felt really refreshed after drinking a glass of ice tea. "Aah..." Patamon sighed out of relief. "That sure was a good drink!" "Yeah..." Gatomon said. "Say, I wonder how T.K. and Kari are doing. We haven't heard anything from them for a while." "I know." Patamon muttered, and looked a bit curious. "Do you think they might be in trouble?" Gatomon asked in a worried manner. "Don't worry, I'm sure they are alright." Patamon comforted Gatomon, and gently rubbed her shoulders. "T.K. and Kari are strong. Whatever comes in their way, they'll make it out alive." Gatomon felt the baby gently kicking her belly, almost as if it was saying "Don't worry." "But don't you remember how Kari nearly got herself killed two weeks ago?" Gatomon said worriedly. "Oh no, they could be in danger without us knowing! What if they need our help?" "Don't panic, Gatomon." Patamon said quietly. "T.K. and Kari are teens already, they can take care of theirselves-" "How can you be sure?" Gatomon inquired. "Well, we can call them if you want." Patamon said, grabbed the phone and dialed T.K's number. However, there seemed to be something wrong with the phone. "That's strange..." Patamon mumbled. "The phone's not working." Gatomon gulped anxiously. "Maybe we should go visit them via the Gate." Patamon suggested.

However, it turned out that the Gate wasn't working, either. "Okay, now I'm starting to think that something fishy is going on." Patamon said in a worried way. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Gatomon weeped. "Kari and T.K. might need our help, and we've got no way to reach them!" However, T.K. and Kari were completely oblivious to the fact that the Gate didn't work. Instead they were just going on with their everyday lives. Kari was writing some sort of exam while T.K. was playing video games. "Hey, c'mon Kari!" He said. "We're on a vacation now, just leave the school stuff and have some fun!" "You know how strict our teacher can be at times, T.K." Kari reminded him. "That's why I want to have everything ready so I can enjoy the rest of my free time." "If you've got any left..." T.K. mumbled, but Kari didn't reply. "Okay then... Carefully, carefully... Damnit! Game over again? This has got to be the hardest game in existance, I can't even complete the first stage-" "Gimme that." Kari said, took the controller from T.K's hands and started playing the game herself. Kari made it to the 5th stage in a matter of minutes. "There you go." She said, and handed the controller back to T.K, who just gazed in awe. "...On second thought, maybe I should start working on my exam as well." He muttered with a nervous chuckle. "That's the spirit." Kari said happily.

"What are you writing about?" T.K. asked Kari. "What's the subject of your exam?" "Oh, pregnancy." Kari replied. "Gatomon gave me the inspiration." "I see." T.K. said. "At least you know everything about that." "Well, I don't know..." Kari muttered, and blushed lightly. "What are you going to write about, then?" "I haven't decided yet." T.K. said as he took out a pencil. "Maybe I'll write about a group of kids who end up in a different world filled with strange creatures who they team up with and save the world." "Hehe, I see what you mean." Kari giggled. "I'm being totally serious here." T.K. said and started sharpening his pen. "I think you should save it for later." Kari suggested. "I mean, if you're truly planning to be an author-" "I am." T.K. stated. "Well, I'll think of something else then." T.K. thought for a while, but couldn't come up with any kind of idea. "Man..." He sighed. "My head's totally empty!" "Maybe you should take a walk or eat something." Kari said. "Hmm..." T.K. murmured. "I'd want to go see Patamon and Gatomon. I mean, we haven't seen the two for about two weeks..." "I understand." Kari said, and stood up. "Well, if you really want it, we can go to the Digital World right away." "Thanks." T.K. thanked as he took out his Digivice. "Let's get going then."

Meanwhile, the DigiDestined digimon were having a meeting. They seemed to have no way to contact the DigiDestined: Telephones weren't working, email wasn't working, even the Gates weren't working. "Okay, is everyone here?" Agumon asked, and looked around. "We're all here!" Palmon replied. "Let's start the meeting then." Agumon said loudly. "Does everyone know why we're having this meeting?" "Because the Gates aren't working!" Veemon said immediatly. "Not only the Gates," Patamon added. "But telephones and other ways of communication aren't working, either." "There is something fishy going on." Tentomon stated. "But we're not sure whether the Digital World or the Human World is to blame." "Maybe the answer lies somewhere in between." Gatomon suggested. "You know, the world that connects our worlds together." "The place where we fought Diaboromon?" Gabumon asked, and Gatomon nodded, saying "Perhaps." "How are we going to solve this problem, then?" Agumon asked the others. "Any suggestions?" "Well..." Gatomon mumbled. "We could try to contact our human partners via our mind... With our hearts." "Ya mean like telepathy or somethin'?" Veemon wondered. "I dunno..." Palmon said quietly. "Well, there's no harm in trying, right?" Gatomon said. "I've always felt that I've got a deeper bond with Kari..." She closed her eyes, and started thinking about Kari hard.

"Well, that's odd." T.K. muttered with a confused look on his face. "Why can't I open the Gate? What's going on?" "Maybe your Digivice's malfunctioning." Kari suggested, and was about to take out her own Digivice when suddenly she heard a voice in her head. "Hmm?" "What's the matter?" T.K. wondered. "I, I think I heard something..." Kari whispered, closed her eyes and tried to listen. "Kari... Kaaariii..." The voice said. "Gatomon?" Kari exclaimed, and looked around. "Eh?" T.K. said. "I-I heard Gatomon's voice inside my head!" Kari stated. "Umm, are you sure you're alright-" T.K. started, but was cut when Kari said "Shh!" and tried to listen again. "Kari, can you hear me?" Gatomon asked. "Yes!" Kari replied. "Gatomon, where are you-" "It's working!" Gatomon said to the other digimon, who looked excited. She then focused back to Kari. "Listen, there's something weird going on in the Digital World. The Gate-" "The Gate's not working?" Kari asked. "That's right." Gatomon replied. "T.K?" Patamon's voice said in T.K's head. "Patamon? Is that you?" T.K. wondered. "What the heck is going on?" "We need help!" Patamon yelled. "We haven't got any ways to access the Human World!" "Just hang in there, guys." T.K. said. "We'll gather the other DigiDestined and try to find a solution." "Okay then." Gatomon said, and the telepathic conversation ended.

"What are we going to do about this?" Asked Tai. T.K. and Kari had gathered all of the other DigiDestined and explained the situation to them. "Well, we need to find out where the problem is and how to fix it, obviously." Ken stated. "Anything yet, Izzy?" Matt asked Izzy, who was sitting at his laptop and typed rapidly. "I haven't spotted anything aberrant yet..." Izzy mumbled. "I hope our friends are alright." Mimi wished. She looked genuinely worried, just like most of the other DigiDestined. "Don't worry." Sora comforted her. "They're digimon, right? They know how to protect themselves." "I sure hope so..." Kari whispered. "Gatomon's pregnant and all... What if something bad happens to her and the baby?" "Hey, no worries!" Davis tried to cheer everyone up. "Gatomon's a strong 'mon, she can take care of herself." T.K. said to Kari. "But that doesn't change the fact that she's pregnant, and a lot more fragile." Kari mumbled. "Hey, Patamon's there to take care of her." T.K. stated. "I'm more interested in what caused this... Or who." Joe said. "Who?" Yolei wondered. "That's right." Joe replied with a nod. "I don't think that this is a pure accident or malfunction. I've got this feeling that someone has been messing with the Digital World." "Now that you mention it," Tai started. "I've also got this feeling as well-"

"I found it!" Izzy exclaimed. "You did?" Yolei asked, and the others immediatly looked at Izzy's laptop's monitor. "Hey, what's this?" Matt wondered, and pointed at the screen. The monitor displayed columns of different symbols, numbers and letters. "Look at these three." Izzy said, and pointed at three symbols on the screen: One was shaped like a gear, one like a tower, and one like a skull. "All of the symbols appear at least twice in this code... Except these three." "I see." Ken said. "So... How are we gonna fix this?" Tai inquired. "Well, simply deleting them is impossible," Izzy started. "Because it could possibly harm the real code itself and cause permanent damage to the Digital World." "But what're we gonna do then?" Davis asked. "Well, the good news is: I can send you to the area where the code is located, so you can remove the troublemakers yourselves. However, I need four volunteers-" "I'll do it!" Tai, Matt, T.K. and Davis said in unison. "Okay then." Izzy muttered. "I'll send you and your digimon to the subspace." "B... Be careful." Kari whispered. "Don't worry, we will!" Davis replied. Tai hugged Kari, and T.K. gave Kari a kiss. "Let's go then," Matt started. "To save the Digital World once again!" "Yeah!" Davis, Tai and T.K. cheered, and entered Izzy's laptop. "Gatomon," Kari sent Gatomon a message with her mind. "Just hang in there. Help is coming." "Okay then. Thanks." Gatomon replied. "I still don't understand how you managed to contact Kari..." Palmon said. "I told you," Gatomon started. "I spoke to her via my heart." "I hope that Agumon, Gabumon, Patamon and Veemon are going to be alright." Wormmon wished. "Yeah, I hope so too." Biyomon said. "We all do." Gatomon stated, but gulped silently.

"Whee, this is a funny feeling!" Davis exclaimed as the four DigiDestined were gliding in the subspace. "There they are!" T.K. said and pointed at Angemon, WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon and ExVeemon, who were waiting for them. "Hey, guys!" Matt greeted the digimon. "Haven't seen you in a while..." "Okay then," Tai started. "Does everyone know what to do?" "Find and destroy the thing that caused all this!" Davis replied as he climbed on ExVeemon's shoulder. "Just be careful," Angemon warned them. "We don't know what, or who, is waiting us there." "Well, there's only one way to find out!" T.K. stated. They soon came across a huge, circural area: The core of the Digital World, the place that united the Digital and Real Worlds. "Whoa..." Davis gasped in awe. "No time to admire the scenery." ExVeemon said. "We need to-" "Found it!" Tai exclaimed. He pointed at six objects at the distance: They looked like large black cogs with spheres on top of them. On the sides of them were mounted two small laser blasters. "W-what the heck are those things?" Davis asked. "I don't know," T.K. replied. "But they seem to be the ones who are causing all this trouble!" "If that's the case, let's get rid of 'em!" ExVeemon said. "Vee Laser!" ExVeemon fired his attack at one of the cogs, but much to his surprise the cog managed to dodge it just in time, and Vee Laser hit the wall instead. "Uh-oh... Watch out guys, they know how to dodge!" "Are you sure it wasn't just your lousy aim?" Angemon teased him, and tried to attack one of the cogs himself, but missed as well.

"Man..." WarGreymon panted. They had tried to destroy the cogs for a while now, but the cogs always managed to dodge their attacks. "Those sure are some sneaky devils! How do they always know when we're going to attack them?" "Maybe they're just programmed that way." Tai suggested. "Or maybe they're being controlled by someone." "Whatever it is, there has to be a way to destroy them!" Matt stated. T.K. observed the cogs for a while. "Hmm... Have you noticed that those things haven't attacked us yet?" He asked. "Yeah... I wonder why that is." Davis replied. "Hmm..." Angemon muttered while watching the cogs. "I got it! ExVeemon, could you give me a hand?" "O-oh, sure." ExVeemon replied. "Fly next to the cog." Angemon said, and ExVeemon did what he was told to do. "Now then... When I attack the cog, it'll try to fly to the side. Right when that happens, use Vee Laser. Got it?" "Aah, now I got it!" ExVeemon said. "Alright then," Angemon muttered. "Hand of Fate!" Angemon fired his attack at the cog, who dodged to the side: However, that very moment ExVeemon fired his Vee Laser. The cog wasn't fast enough to avoid it: Vee Laser tore a huge X-shaped hole in the cog, causing it to explode and dissolve. "Hey, it worked!" T.K. exclaimed. "Alright, way to go guys!" Davis cheered. "Let's get the rest of them!" MetalGarurumon said. WarGreymon nodded, and the two Megas helped Angemon and ExVeemon destroy the rest of the cogs.

"You did it!" Tai exclaimed after the digimon had destroyed all of the cogs. The room flashed brightly, and the code that was seen in Izzy's laptop repaired itself. "Hey, they did it!" Izzy exclaimed, and the rest of the DigiDestined present cheered. Izzy transferred Tai, Matt, T.K. and Davis back to the Human World and their digimon companions back to the Digital World. "Are you sure it's working now?" Davis wondered. T.K. took out his Digivice, said "There's only one way to find out." and succesfully opened the Gate. "It works..." Kari muttered, and sighed out of relief. T.K. smiled as he closed the Gate and put the Digivice back into his pocket. "Wohoo, you're the best!" Palmon cheered. Agumon, Gabumon, Patamon and Veemon just grinned smugly. "You did a great job." Gatomon said quietly, and kissed Patamon. However, later on, when Izzy was observing the code, he spotted something strange. "Hmm..." Izzy muttered, and yawned. "Looks like everything's back to normal-" He gasped all of a sudden. "W-what was that? Something flashed on the screen..." As the screen flashed again, Izzy noticed what it was. However, after rubbing his eyes, there was nothing on the screen anymore. "Am I seeing things?" Izzy asked himself. "Oh well, maybe I'm just too tired..." He shut down his laptop, and started reading a book instead. "There's no point of worrying others, especially if I was just seeing things... Maybe it only resembled a Black Gear."

In the File Island, there was a DemiDevimon wandering around. This happened to be the same individual that served Myotismon years ago. "Bleugh..." DemiDevimon grunted. "The Digital World has been too peaceful for the past years. I wish that lord Myotismon would return and spread darkness and chaos-" "Stop." A deep, echoing voice said. "W-what the-?" DemiDevimon gasped, and looked around. "You came just in time." The voice stated. It was so dark that DemiDevimon couldn't see what it was, but he thought it was some sort of shadow. "W-who are you?" He asked with a gulp. "And what do you want?" "I need your help," The voice replied. "In order to destroy the DigiDestined... Destroy Gatomon." "Hmm, that is tempting..." DemiDevimon muttered with an evil grin on his face. "Well, whoever you are, sir, count me in!" "Excellent." The dark figure said. He entered DemiDevimon's body via DemiDevimon's mouth. "Aah!" DemiDevimon yelped. "Don't worry." The voice said in his head. "I just need myself a temporary new body... And you're it."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

33rd week of Gatomon's pregnancy. Gatomon was really excited at the prospect of giving birth to the baby, but at the same time she felt very anxious. "What if something goes wrong?" Gatomon asked herself and her friends. "What if the baby gets stuck... Or what if she's already d-dead when she's born?" Patamon and Kari did their best to comfort Gatomon and saying there was nothing to worry about, but Gatomon wasn't convinced. While Patamon tried to cheer her up, he still had a strange feeling in his guts: Something bad was going to happen. Gatomon aslo experienced swelling in some parts of her body, especially in her hands and feet. Her hands were in fact so swollen that she had no choice but take off the gloves she normally wore all the time. Gatomon was rather relucant to do this: She felt very weak and defenseless without her claws. However, an arm wrestling match with Patamon soon proved her wrong. "See?" Patamon said after losing to Gatomon. "You're at least ten times stronger than me!" "That's only because of my ring." Gatomon stated, removed her ring and challenged Patamon to another match, but she still won with little effort.

"There you go." Patamon said with a strange smile. "You're still stronger than me." "T-that's because I'm a Champion." Gatomon muttered as she slid the Tail Ring back to her tail. "What, so you want me to digivolve to Angemon and lose to you then?" Patamon asked sarcastically, and they both laughed. However, Patamon looked a bit worried. "I don't think this is right..." He thought, and sighed silently. "Why am I weaker than my girlfriend? Shouldn't I be stronger than Gatomon, so I could protect her if we get into danger..." He looked at Gatomon, who was now doing the dishes and wagging her tail happily, and smiled. "But does it really matter?" Patamon asked himself. "We love one another so much that we can also protect each other... We can fight together." "What would you like for dinner?" Gatomon asked. "Eh?" Patamon wondered. "O-oh, I can do that-" "Nope, I'll do it myself." Gatomon interrupted him. "You've cooked every day for about two weeks, it's my turn now! Just say what you want to eat and I'll make it." "Well... Rice and beans, please." Patamon said. He decided to ask for something easy to cook so it wouldn't be too tough for Gatomon. "As you wish." Gatomon replied, and started making dinner.

Suddenly, lighting struck nearby. "Uh-oh, looks like it's going to be stormy again." Patamon stated. "Oh no, I left the laundry drying outside!" Gatomon yelped. "I'll get it." Patamon said, stood up and rushed outside. He took the clothes off the clothesline, put them in a basket and quickly returned indoors. "There you go. They didn't really get wet at all." "Phew... Thank you." Gatomon thanked, gave Patamon a kiss and then continued making dinner. "I was afraid I would have to hang the laundry again..." "By the way, I just noticed," Patamon started. "The sky is all black, and lighting struck, but there's no rain outside." "Really?" Gatomon wondered, and took a look out of the window. "Hmm, you're right. I wonder why that is." "Well, like you always say: 'The weather of Digital World can be unpredictable at times'" Patamon said, and Gatomon sniggered quietly. Soon, the dinner was ready. Patamon sat down at the table while Gatomon handed him a plateful of rice and beans. "Thank you." Patamon thanked. Gatomon took a plateful herself and sat down at the kitchen table. "Bon app tit." She said, and the two digimon started eating.

"Oof..." Gatomon groaned, and flinched a little. "A contraction." She explained to Patamon. "They've gotten a bit more usual during the past few weeks..." "I understand." Patamon said. Gatomon sighed, and muttered "I wish that the baby was born already... I don't know how long I can take all these symptoms." "Don't worry, it's been over 7 months now." Patamon said. "Soon, our little baby will be roaming here... Our daughter..." He suddenly looked rather nervous. "Hey, what's wrong?" Gatomon asked him. "I-it's been over 7 months, and I still can't grasp the fact that we're going to have a child... I'm going to be a father." Patamon explained. "I hope I'll be a good one to our daughter-" "Not only good." Gatomon said. "You're going to be the best father in the history." "U-umm, I dunno about that." Patamon mumbled, and blushed deep red. "Don't be so humble." Gatomon said quietly and rubbed Patamon's cheek. "You know it yourself that you're going to be a good parent." "Maybe," Patamon started with a smile. "But you're going to be at least twice as good mother than I'll ever be a father." "I-I wouldn't say so..." Gatomon murmured. Now it was her turn to blush. "Let's just say that we're both going to be good parents to our daughter." "Good idea." Patamon whispered, and kissed Gatomon.

Little did Patamon and Gatomon know that a familiar 'friend' of theirs was spying the two just from the other side of the window. It was DemiDevimon. "Grr..." DemiDevimon growled. He took out one Demi Dart. "Are you sure you don't want me to kill them now, master?" "Don't be hasty." Said the voice inside his head. "I don't want to merely kill Patamon... No, I want to torture him and drive him insane! And in order to do this, I'll have to wait until his offspring is born." "Umm... May I ask why, master?" DemiDevimon wondered. "You will see soon enough..." The voice replied with a devious cackle. "Let's just say that the loss of his loved one, combined with the responsibility and care that raising a baby as a single parent takes is bound to give anyone a mental breakdown." "Ooh, how deviously thought, Master!" DemiDevimon exclaimed and laughed. "Quiet, you fool!" The voice warned DemiDevimon. "They'll hear you!" "Uh-oh..." DemiDevimon muttered. He managed to hide just as Patamon looked out of the window. "What is it?" Gatomon wondered. "Strange..." Patamon muttered. "I thought I heard something." "Really?" Gatomon asked. "Meh, I guess I just imagined it." Patamon replied with a shrug, and started kissing Gatomon again.

In the Real World, Kari was visiting T.K, who had caught fever. "It was nice of you to come see me..." T.K. muttered, and sneezed. "Of course I did." Kari replied with a smile. However, the expression on her face soon turned into a mix of confusion and seriousness. "But I do have to wonder, what on earth were you thinking when you trained football in the middle of a rainstorm." "W-we had no choice." T.K. stated. "Our coach is really bent on winning the cup this year, so we have to train whenever possible... Besides, there was no- ACHOO! No rain when we started playing." "Hmm..." Kari mumbled worriedly. "Well, at least I'm not the only one." T.K. said with an optimistic smile. "I heard that Davis caught fever as well." "Oh, that's too bad." Kari said. "I really hope you're going to win this year." T.K's mother stepped into the room, carrying a cup of tea. "Here you go." She said, and handed the cup to T.K. "Thanks." T.K. said, and drank the tea. "Do you want anything else?" His mom wondered. "Thanks, mom, but no thanks." T.K. replied politely. "I'll do fine when Kari's by my side." Kari smiled, and playfully poked T.K's nose. "Alright then." T.K's mom said, left the room and closed the door. "I'd give you a kiss, but I don't want you to catch my fever." T.K. stated. "You know what," Kari whispered. "I don't care." She then kissed T.K. right on the mouth.

Patamon and Gatomon were sitting on a couch, warming themselves at the fireplace. Gatomon rested her head on Patamon's belly while Patamon fed her grapes and stroke her head. "Mmm..." Gatomon murmured, and purred happily. "Are you feeling all relaxed?" Patamon asked while still stroking Gatomon's head. "You bet..." Gatomon muttered with a peaceful smile. "That's good." Patamon said. He then started carefully scratching Gatomon's chin. "Aah..." Gatomon sighed. She purred harder, and waggled her tail. "Ow!" Patamon exclaimed. He noticed that his cheek was bleeding. Gatomon was standing on the couch, looking cautious with her claws out. "O-oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" She apologised to Patamon, who was rubbing his cheek. "It's okay, it was my fault." Patamon replied. "I accidentally touched your belly, that seemed to trigger your protective instincts." Gatomon blushed out of embarrasment. "Not this again..." She wailed. "Why can't I control myself? I am too-" "I've told you this many times: It has nothing to do with you being weak!" Patamon exclaimed. "Your instincts are something that you can never fully control: They always get the best of your mind at some point." Gatomon didn't say anything. She grabbed a cloth from the table and started cleaning Patamon's wound. After cleaning it, she went to the kitchen, grabbed some band-aid and placed one on Patamon's cheek.

"I'm sorry." Gatomon muttered. "Hey, I told you already that it wasn't your fault." Patamon replied, and placed his paw on Gatomon's shoulder. "Besides, I deserved that." "W-what makes you say that?" Gatomon wondered. "Well... It's because of me that you're pregnant in the first place." Patamon muttered. "So I am to blame for all your pain and actions and such-" "Hey, cut it out!" Gatomon exclaimed. "There's nothing to be sorry for, Patamon! We're going to have a child!" "G-Gatomon..." Patamon started. "And I'm happy about it." Gatomon stated. "I don't care how much pain or stress this causes. As long as our daughter will have a nice life, nothing else matters." Patamon felt a little better, but didn't say anything. "Besides, pregnancy takes two." Gatomon added and blinked. Patamon smiled lightly, and said "I guess you're right." "Yuck..." Said DemiDevimon, who was still spying on them. "I don't know what those two see in one another! Their romance is disgusting..." "Love works in mysterious ways." The voice stated. "While it can bring one happiness and joy, it is also capable of destroying one completely." "I know what you mean." DemiDevimon cackled. "Soon, those two shall be torn apart! Nothing can stop us!" "Don't be too hasty." The voice warned him. "Keep in mind that anything could happen." "I-I will, Master." DemiDevimon said, and continued spying on Patamon and Gatomon.

A couple days later, T.K. had gotten a lot better. He was eager to return to the football field and train, but his mom and Kari prevented him. "Man... Coach is gonna kill me once I'm well again." T.K. sighed. "It's his own fault that you've missed the past few exercises." Kari stated. "He should've called off the training when it started to rain." "Well, actually... It was our choice to keep on playing." T.K. admitted. "Coach would've wanted to stop, but we are bent on winning the cup. We want to repay our coach all the training he's given to us during all these years." "Aww, that's so sweet!" Kari said with a smile. "I didn't know you cared about him that much..." "To be honest, neither did we." T.K. replied. He tossed the football that he was holding in his hands high up in the air, and caught it as it landed. "I just really hope that we win this year." "Me too." Kari said. "It's obviously so important to all of you." "You have no idea..." T.K. said and sighed. "Umm... Are you sure you're not taking this too seriously?" Kari wondered. "I mean, football's only a game-" "You don't understand." T.K. said quietly. "To some people, football's more than a game: It's life." "I know, but you're not one of them, are you?" Kari asked. "No, I am not," T.K. started. "But our coach is." T.K. tossed the football in the air again. "We're going to win this game." He muttered with a confident smile. "We'll have to."

Patamon and Gatomon were on a walk. It had just rained yesterday, and now the air was all fresh. Patamon took a deep breath, and sighed happily. "Aah... I love the smell after rain." He stated. "Good for you..." Gatomon mumbled, and covered her nose. "My sense of smell is too overdeveloped for my own good." "I wonder if the baby can smell anything yet." Patamon said. "Or what qualities of ours she will have." "What do you mean by that?" Gatomon wondered. "I mean, is she going to have your sense of smell, my colour scheme, your claws, our personalities... You know, stuff like that." Patamon explained. "Oh." Gatomon muttered. "Well, we'll find out when she's born and a little bit older." "I guess you're right." Patamon said while they kept on walking. "Hmm?" Gatomon wondered. "What is it?" Patamon asked. "Those paw prints look somehow familiar..." Gatomon mumbled. She looked at her own paws, and then it hit her. "Aah, another Gatomon!" "A SMALL Gatomon..." Patamon added. Suddenly, the baby started kicking excitedly. "H-hey, calm down now!" Gatomon said to the baby. "She's kicking uncontrollably for some reason..." Patamon was about to place his hand on Gatomon's belly, but the tingling in his cheek quickly made him change his mind. Soon, the baby calmed down, and Patamon and Gatomon started going back home. "I wonder what caused her to react that way." Gatomon said, but Patamon only shrugged as a reply.

The next week, it was the time for the big game. All of the DigiDestined, Patamon, Gatomon and Veemon had come to see T.K and Davis playing. "I sure hope they win this year..." Kari started. "It's so important to all of them." "Of course they're gonna win!" Veemon said cheerfully. "It's Davis and T.K. who're playin', what are the odds of them losin'?" The spectators started cheering when the teams walked to the football field. "Wohoo! Good luck, guys!" Kari cheered after spotting T.K. and Davis. "Go get 'em, Davis!" Veemon exclaimed. "You can do it, T.K!" Patamon yelled. T.K. and Davis both chuckled nervously and shared a worried glance as the game started. However, fifteen minutes later T.K's and Davis' team was losing 0-2. "Oh, come on!" Yolei yelled. "You should've went there and play for them, Ken! They'd be winning at least 9-0!" "I, I think that the rules wouldn't allow that..." Ken said and laughed in a nervous way. "Come on, T.K!" Kari encouraged T.K. "Please, win this game for me!" T.K. got some new spirit from Kari's words, and managed to make a goal. T.K's goal encouraged the rest of the team, and they played considerably better. In a matter of minutes, Davis managed to make another goal. "Alright, guys!" Veemon exclaimed. "Whoa..." T.K. panted. "The score's already even... We actually might have a chance of winning." "Don't speak too soon." Davis warned him. "There's still more than an hour left of the game, anything could happen."

The match was nearly over, and the score was 4-4. "Uh-oh..." Cody muttered. "This doesn't look good: The game is almost over, and the score's even." "We just have to count on T.K's team." Kari stated, but looked unsure herself. "Look, T.K's got the ball!" Patamon exclaimed, and pointed at the field. There was 10 seconds left of the game: T.K. was running towards the opponent's goal with the ball. "Go, T.K, go!" Patamon cheered. "You can do it! Remember your inner Hope and believe in yourself!" "I can do it..." T.K. mumbled. "I can do it..!" He kicked the ball hard, and... "IT'S A GOAAAAL!" The commentator shouted. "Yes!" The DigiDestined cheered. "We did it! We won the game!" Davis roared, and went to hug T.K. alongside the entire team. Later on, the DigiDestined went to a cafeteria to celebrate the victory. "Alright T.K, you were awesome!" Yolei stated. "And you were great too, Davis!" "Well, I don't know..." T.K. and Davis both muttered with a wide grin. "Don't be so humble, T.K!" Kari said. "You were the hero of today, you made the finishing goal!" Ken grabbed a glass of coke. "I'd like propose a toast in honor of T.K. and Davis, who played great today." "Cheers!" The other DigiDestined replied, and drank their glasses empty. "Oh, by the way," Kari started, and looked at T.K. with a smile. "Here's a prize for you." She gave T.K. a big kiss. "Thanks, Angel." T.K. replied. "You're welcome, Hero." Kari said and blinked.

DemiDevimon was flying towards the Infinity Mountain. "Umm... Master, what exactly are we looking for?" He asked the voice inside him. "Patience, my boy." The voice replied. "Legend has it, that in a cave located in the Infinty Mountain lies a mysterious object called the Crest of Darkness. It has so much dark energy contained in it that I bet it will be enough to restore my body." DemiDevimon approached Infinity Mountain. "There..." The voice said, and guided DemiDevimon to a nearby cave. "I can feel the power... It's here!" DemiDevimon entered the cave. As he went deeper in the cave, he came across a circular room with a black rock in the middle: The Crest of Darkness. "Touch the Crest... Touch it!" The voice ordered DemiDevimon. DemiDevimon placed his wing on the Crest of Darkness: The room was engulfed by a light. The voice flew out of DemiDevimon's body. The shadow, representing the voice's spirit, formed into a devil-like figure. He looked at his arms, and gushed out evil laughter. "Ha ha ha ha... Yes, YES! I am finally back! Now then..." He turned his head at DemiDevimon. "I will turn this cave into the base of my operations. In the meantime, you must keep spying on Patamon and Gatomon. Understood?" "Y-yes." DemiDevimon replied and nodded. "You can count on me, Lord Devimon!"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Pregnancy week 36. It was the ninth and final month of Gatomon's pregnancy, and Gatomon was getting really anxious. "T-the baby is g-going to be born s-soon." She stuttered with a nervous gulp. "I-I'm still not sure if I'm up to it..." "Gatomon, you've done so well during the last 8 months that I see no reason why you couldn't do it." Said Kari, who was visiting Gatomon and Patamon. "I-I'm so nervous..." Gatomon mumbled. "I still can't stop thinking... What if something goes horribly wrong?" Patamon stepped into the living room with a cup of tea in his hands. "Here, drink this." He said and handed the cup to Gatomon, who drank it empty in one gulp. "Aah... Thanks." Gatomon thanked. "Did that help at all?" Patamon wondered. "A-a little." Gatomon replied. "I feel a bit less nervous now." "That's nice." Kari said with a smile. "But you have to start believing in yourself, Gatomon. The childbirth will go alright, I'm sure of it." Gatomon wasn't completely convinced, but felt slightly better. "Gatomon," Patamon started. "I know how worried you're about the childbirth: I am myself, too. But I also know that everything's going to be fine. It's the baby of ours, Gatomon, she's going to be alright." Gatomon smiled, and muttered "Yeah, I guess you're right..."

All of a sudden, Gatomon felt something strange and yelped. "What is it?" Kari wondered. "I, I can breathe a lot better again." Gatomon started. "And... My lower body feels a lot heavier for some reason." "Aah." Kari said. She seemed to understand what Gatomon meant. "Lightening." "Light- what?" Patamon wondered. "Your baby has dropped to the birth canal, Gatomon." Kari explained. "It's now in the position ready to be born." "Oh, really?" Gatomon wondered, and looked at her belly curiously. "So... You're going to be born soon then." She said to the baby, who replied with a gentle kick. "She kicked!" "Looks like she recognizes your voice already." Kari stated. Patamon looked excited, and said "Hey there, sweetie!" to the baby. "She kicked again." Gatomon said after feeling the baby kicked in a more excited way. "Let's see if she knows your voice yet, Kari!" "Umm..." Kari mumbled. "Hi there, little one! Do you recognize the voice of Aunt Kari?" The baby didn't kick. "Hmm... Looks like not-" Gatomon started, but was cut when the baby kicked yet again. "Oh, nevermind, she was just a little slow." "Hehe... Looks like she's not used to my voice yet." Kari suggested with a chuckle.

The next day, when Patamon and Gatomon were on a walk, they came across an overjoyed Veemon. "Hey, what's up with Veemon?" Gatomon asked Patamon. "To be honest, I don't know..." Patamon muttered. "Oh, hiya guys!" Veemon greeted the two. "Hi there, Veemon." Gatomon replied. "My, you look unusually happy today." "I just heard some great news." Veemon said with a grin. "I just became an uncle of two!" "Oh my, really?" Gatomon wondered. "Congratulations!" Patamon cheered. "Thanks." Veemon thanked. " They're twins, both girls. One is a pink DemiVeemon and one is a blue one." "That's nice." Gatomon said with a smile. "You know, I wonder if they'll ever become friends with our soon to be born daughter..." "Hey, that'd be great!" Patamon stated. "Yeah, it would..." Veemon mumbled. "Well anyways, I gotta get goin' now, Vanessa's waitin' for me." "Okay. See you later!" Patamon replied, and slapped high fives with Veemon. "Bye!" Gatomon yelled. "Hmm... I wonder if Veemon's going to be a good uncle." "I'm sure he will." Patamon assured. "Veemon's strong, confident and courageous, but also friendly and caring at times." "I guess you're right," Gatomon started. "But he still couldn't beat you." Patamon giggled a little as the two shared a kiss.

DemiDevimon was spying on Patamon and Gatomon from a nearby tree. "Hmm, they haven't spotted me yet..." He said to himself. "It's a good thing that the pregnancy has weakened Gatomon's senses, ohterwise I would've been busted a long time ago-" That very moment, Gatomon's ear flinched, and she turned around. "Gheeh!" DemiDevimon gasped, and immediatly hid deep in the leaves. "What is it?" Patamon wondered after he noticed that Gatomon had turned around. "...I think I heard something." Gatomon explained, and looked around, but didn't see anything uncommon. "Strange, I thought I had heard something as well." Patamon admitted. "Oh well, maybe we just imagined it." "Yeah, maybe..." Gatomon mumbled, but still looked cautious as they started walking again. "Phew..." DemiDevimon sighed out of relief. "For a moment I thought they'd see me." He continued spying on the two, but felt a wave of anger every time he looked at Gatomon. "If it wasn't for Master Devimon," He started, and took out a Demi Dart. "I would lay my vengeance upon Gatomon! But, *SIGH* I just have to stay in the shadows, spy on her and Patamon and report to Devimon... Why can't I just shoot the two with my Demi Darts so Master Devimon can take over the world? Evil masterminds always make some complicated that plans that backfire every time, instead of just killing their nemeses and-"

"Whoa!" Patamon yelped, and nearly fell on the ground. "What's going on?" "T-the ground is shaking..." Gatomon said quietly. "Uh-oh, this can't be good!" DemiDevimon thought. A wild MoriShellmon, the forest counterpart of Shellmon, stormed from the woods. "Looks like he's angry!" Patamon exclaimed. "Ruuuun!" He and Gatomon started running away from the MoriShellmon. "I'd better follow 'em!" DemiDevimon said and took off. Soon, MoriShellmon had cornered Patamon and Gatomon between itself and a nearby ravine. "We're trapped!" Gatomon yelped. "Don't worry, I'll protect you... The both of you." Patamon comforted her, and was about to digigvolve. However, MoriShellmon had wrapped one of the tentacles on his head around Patamon, and started crushing him. "Patamon!" Gatomon cried. "Hnngh!" Patamon grunted while trying to free himself from MoriShellmon's grasp, to no avail. Gatomon couldn't do anything because of her pregnancy. "Gatomon, run!" Patamon gasped. "Save yourself!" "B-but I can't leave you!" Gatomon sobbed. "Hmph, it'd be right for them to die..." DemiDevimon thought. "But Devimon wants to kill Patamon himself. Darnit... I'll have to save him!" DemiDevimon threw a Demi Dart at the MoriShellmon. The toxins contained inside the dart immediatly took effect: MoriShellmon felt dizzy at first, and then fainted, letting go of Patamon.

"Ah!" Patamon gasped and rapidly took deep breaths as Gatomon ran next to him. "Are you alright?" She asked. "I, I'm fine." Patamon replied with a comforting smile. "He only managed to squeeze the air out of me, that's all." "Are you sure?" Gatomon asked with a very concerned look on her face. "Maybe you should go see a doctor or-" "No, really, I'm alright!" Patamon replied. "But I wonder what caused the MoriShellmon to black out..." DemiDevimon had managed to pull the Demi Dart out of MoriShellmon and hide just in time. "They didn't see me, they didn't see me, they didn't see me..." He prayed silently. "Well, the important thing is that you're still alive." Gatomon stated. "I was afraid for a while that I'd lose you..." "Hey, cheer up honey." Patamon said with a smile, and gently stroke Gatomon's cheek. "It takes more than a mere MoriShellmon to get rid of me." Gatomon giggled quietly and kissed Patamon on the mouth. "Bleugh!" DemiDevimon said out of disgust and stuck his tongue out. "Did I save Patamon for THAT? Maybe I should've left him to die..." "I'm sorry I didn't help you." Gatomon apologised, and looked a little embarrassed. "It's okay." Patamon replied. "There was nothing you could have done. After all, you're pregnant." "I know, but... You could've died." Gatomon whispered. "Maybe, but at least I'd be reborn as a Digi-Egg." Patamon stated. "Come on, let's see a smile on that face." Gatomon smiled weakly. "Better." Patamon said, and the two started going home.

Gatomon was looking around the baby's room with a happy face. "This is going to be yours soon." She whispered to the baby. "Your very own room where you can play and sleep and... When you get some friends, you can invite them over here to play." Gatomon sighed happily. She grabbed a Monzaemon doll from the craddle. "I truly hope that you're going to live a happy life." Gatomon muttered. "Patamon and I have had some tough times, saving the Digital World and whatnot... You don't deserve to go through all that." Gatomon felt the baby gently kicking her belly. "I wish I knew what your life is going to be like. If you're going to have a peaceful life, one filled with dangers and adventures, or something else." Gatomon heard Patamon walking up the steps and coming in the baby's room. "Aah, found you." Patamon said. "I was looking for you. What are you doing here?" "I was thinking about our daughter's future." Gatomon explained. "You know, what her life is going to be like and stuff." "Uh-huh, I see." Patamon said and nodded. "I've been thinking about that sometimes as well. I hope that her life is going to be a great one." "I'm sure it will be." Gatomon said with a smile. "After all, she's going to have a great dad to raise her." "And an even greater mother to boot." Patamon added. "He he... Thanks." Gatomon thanked, and was about to kiss Patamon, but Patamon placed his paw on Gatomon's lips. "Not here." He said quietly. "Not in our daughter's room." "Oh, right." Gatomon muttered. The two left the room, and kissed one another in the hallway.

"You know," Gatomon started as they stopped kissing. "We still haven't decided on our daughter's name yet." "Yeah, you're right." Patamon uttered. He looked rather thoughtful. "It should be something short and sweet." Gatomon stated. "Nothing extremely common, but not too rare either... Something ordinary and fitting." "Well, if we can't come up with anything, we can always call her 'Baby'" Patamon joked. "No, I don't think Baby would be a good name." Gatomon said. "What if she becomes a grandmother one day? 'Grandma Baby' doesn't sound too good..." "I know, I was only kidding." Patamon stated. "Speaking of grandmothers," Gatomon started with a curious look on her face. "I wonder if our daughter's ever going to have child, if we are going to be grandparents." "Err, I-I think it's a bit too early to think about things like that..." Patamon stated. "What, do you mean you don't want to be a grandfather?" Gatomon wondered. "O-oh, no, absolutely not!" Patamon exclaimed and hastily waved his paws. "I mean, the baby hasn't even been born yet! She probably isn't going to have kids for years." "I guess you're right." Gatomon said with a shrug. "Who do you think is going to be her fiancé ; A Gatomon, a Patamon or someone else?" "To be honest, it doesn't really matter." Patamon stated. "I don't care if she goes out with a Patamon, a Gatomon, a Tsukaimon or even a Numemon, as long as she is happy." "You're right." Gatomon said and smiled. "Her own happiness is the most important thing."

Patamon still had the feeling that there was something fishy about that MoriShellmon attack. "Why did it faint all of a sudden?" He thought. "I thought he was going to kill me, but then he let go of me and blacked out... Something doesn't add up now." Patamon drank a glass of water. "I've had this feeling in my guts that something is going to happen... And it's not good. Something evil from the past is lurking in the dark-" EEEK!" Patamon heard Gatomon screaming from the living room. He immediatly stood up and ran in the living room. Gatomon was standing on the couch with her fur puffed up. She looked rather scared for some reason. "What's wrong, honey?" Patamon asked. "L-look!" Gatomon yelped, and pointed at the ground. "A-a spider!" Patamon just stared at Gatomon for a while, before bursting out in laughter. He trapped the spider in his hands. "P, Patamon, don't!" Gatomon exclaimed. "Why not?" Patamon asked. He was still chuckling. "I know that you women are afraid of insects, there's nothing to be ashamed of." "I didn't mean that-" Gatomon started, but Patamon didn't listen. "Just a second," Patamon said with a comforting smile. "I'll just go and release this vile beast in the woods- OW!" Patamon had dropped the spider back on the floor, and was blowing on his paw. "I tried to tell you!" Gatomon cried. "It was a poison spider!" "A... A poison?" Patamon mumbled, and looked at his paw. "Uh-huh... I see." He wobbled for a small while before eventually fainting and falling on the floor.

"Patamon... Patamon..." Patamon heard Gatomon saying his name when he woke up. "Aah..." Patamon wailed. "Where am I?" "Thank goodness, he's alive." Gatomon whispered, and hugged Patamon tight. "Ghah!" Patamon gasped. Gatomon immediatly let go of him. "Sorry." She apologised. "What happened?" Patamon wondered. He looked around, and noticed that he was lying on the living room couch. T.K. and Kari had come to see him. "How do you feel, Patamon?" Kari asked carefully. "I'm fine." Patamon replied and smiled. "But... What happened?" "T, the spider bit you." Gatomon explained. "I grabbed the phone and called Joe... He managed to give you antidote just in time. Then you fell into a deep sleep." "You've been asleep for about 20 hours." T.K. stated. "Oh... Man." Patamon mumbled. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, Gatomon-" "Hey, it's not your fault." Gatomon said. "I should have told you earlier that it was a poison spider..." "You have to relax for now." T.K. said. "It won't be good for you if you move too much." "Aww, but I've already been sleeping for twenty hours!" Patamon whined. "My body's all numb from lying on my back for so long..." "Well, you can get up, but don't push yourself." Gatomon said. She remembered what happened the last time Patamon was sick, so she didn't want to baby him anymore. "We'll take care of you until you get better." "Hey, I don't need to be taken care of, I'm alright-" Patamon insisted, but felt very weak after standing up and sat back down on the couch. "Oh well, maybe I really need A LITTLE care..." He muttered, and T.K, Gatomon and Kari all looked at one another in an amused way.

Patamon had completely recovered two days later. To prove this, he performed a few joyful cartwheels in front of Gatomon. At first he did fine, but on the third cartwheel he lost balance and fell flat on his back. "Oof!" Patamon groaned after he hit the ground. Gatomon giggled lightly, but stopped after Patamon stood up and looked at her. "What's so funny?" He asked. "Nothing, nothing..." Gatomon replied, and shook her head. "Let's see if you can do any better." Patamon provoked Gatomon. "As you wish, mister." Gatomon said and stood up. He performed many impressive cartwheels, launched herself into the air, did a somersault and landed right on her feet. "What was so hard about that?" Gatomon asked, but Patamon just stared in awe with his mouth wide open. "How the heck did you-" He started. "Shh!" Gatomon hushed. "No swearing in front of the baby..." She carefully rubbed her belly. "S-sorry." Patamon said. "But... How on earth did you manage to do that? I mean, you're pregnant or all..." "It doesn't matter that much, really." Gatomon stated. "While I'm slower and less capable of fighting, but I'm still almost as agile as ever." "Well, you're a feline digimon, after all." Patamon said. "I hope it's not dangerous to the baby that you move like that..." "I doubt it." Gatomon said. "She's the daughter of us, after all. She can take a little stretching like that." "Heh heh... You're right." Patamon said with a proud tone in his voice.

All of a sudden, Gatomon yelped "Ow!" "What is it?" Patamon wondered. "A... A contraction." Gatomon panted. "A really bad one." "Uh oh... Do you think we should call a doctor?" Patamon asked. "No... It's gone already." Gatomon muttered while still in small pain. "Are you sure?" Patamon inquired with a worried look. "I'm positive." Gatomon said. "It's not the time yet." Patamon looked unsure, but didn't say anything. Meanwhile, DemiDevimon was spying on them from behind the window, as usual. "Hmm..." He thought. "I thought Gatomon was going to give birth to the baby already. What's takin' her so long, anyway? Why won't she just push the baby out of her belly and that's it?" DemiDevimon heard a loud beep from nearby. He took out a bat-shaped communication device. "Hello?" He answered to the device. "This is your master speaking." Devimon's voice said from the other end. "Report back to our base." "Y-yes, Sir!" DemiDevimon replied. He took off, and flew towards the Infinity Mountain. DemiDevimon slid the communication device to a hole right next to a cave blocked by a boulder. The boulder moved aside, and DemiDevimon stepped in. "Aah..." Said Devimon, who was sitting on a throne. "Hello, my master." DemiDevimon said and bowed. "You wanted to see me?" "Yes." Devimon replied. "Give me your reports from the past couple weeks." DemiDevimon told Devimon everything he knew. "Hmm..." Devimon mumbled. "It will be the time of childbirth soon. Excellent..." He looked at DemiDevimon in a satisfied way. "You must keep an even closer eye on then, DemiDevimon. Follow them everywhere they go, no matter at what cost. This plan must NOT fail, understood?" "Y-yes, my lord." DemiDevimon replied, bowed again and took off.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It was the 38th week of Gatomon's pregnancy. Patamon had noticed that the longer the pregnancy had gone on, the more sarcastic Gatomon had become. First this started as a minor thing, but soon Gatomon was getting really obnoxious, even in Patamon's opinion. "Sorry..." Gatomon apologised every time someone lost their patience at her. "It's my hormones that are causing this... I wish the pregnancy was over already." Patamon looked at her in a worried way. He could clearly tell that Gatomon was sincerely sorry and that she was suffering from the pregnancy. Patamon decided to do everything he could so Gatomon's last weeks as pregnants would be as pleasant as possible, but Gatomon still acted grumpy and sarcastic. One day she in fact acted so mean that she almost made Kari cry. That's when T.K. finally lost his patience. "You know," He started and glared at Gatomon. "Just because you're pregnant doesn't give you the right to yell at your friends!" "Guys, don't fight!" Patamon said. Gatomon glared at T.K. for a while, but then sighed with a sad look on her face. "You're right..." She murmured. "I'm sorry, Kari. I didn't mean to-" "It's alright." Kari said gently and wiped her eyes. "I know you didn't do that on purpose." "I need to learn to control myself." Gatomon thought.

The next day, Patamon and Gatomon were having a walk in a nearby park. The sun was shining bright, and there was a gentle breeze that blew on their face. "Such a beautiful day." Patamon said. "I know." Gatomon muttered and looked around the park. There were other digimon in the park with their newborn offsprings, just having a nice walk. "Looks like many other digimon were pregnant around the same time I was..." Gatomon said to Patamon. "Well, that only means that our daughter is going to have a lot of friends." Patamon said and smiled in an optimistic way. "Don't be too sure." Gatomon said, sounding a bit gloomy. "She may make some friends, but there's also the chance that she makes some enemies as well." "Maybe you're right." Patamon sighed. "But we can't know until she's old enough. Perhaps she'll be able to make friends with anybody." "Well, I wouldn't say anybody..." Gatomon muttered. "After all, she's going to be our daughter. I doubt she wants to be friends with those who are using the powers of Darkness." "Heh heh, good point." Patamon chuckled. "I hope she wont get herself into too much trouble because of that, though."

Gatomon suddenly gasped and flinched. "Aah..." She moaned. "A, another contraction." She explained to the confused-looking Patamon. "Uhuh." Patamon said and nodded. "I-I'll be alright." Gatomon added after seeing Patamon's worried face. "No, really, I will!" "Hmm... If you say so." Patamon mumbled quietly, but kept an eye on Gatomon, just in case she had another contraction. "Huh?" He wondered, and looked up. "Looks like it got cloudy all of a sudden." "Oh, really?" Gatomon muttered sarcastically. "I would've never figured that out myself." Patamon looked at her in a surprised way. "Sorry," Gatomon sighed. "I didn't mean to be snappy... You probably hate me nowadays, don't you?" "No I don't!" Patamon replied. "I love you, Gatomon. I always have and I always will. Just because you've been slightly annoying during the pregnancy doesn't make me hate you, not one bit." Gatomon smirked a little. "Aww, thank you Patamon." She thanked. "You're always so sweet and kind to me..." "You deserve it." Patamon stated. "You're so gorgeous, caring and gentle yourself that I can't help it." "Tee hee hee... Maybe I've cast a spell on you." Gatomon joked in a seductive tone and winked. Patamon chuckled lightly and said "In that case, I hope you'll never run out of your magic powers." before giving Gatomon a deep kiss.

That night, Gatomon had yet again difficulties with sleeping because of the baby. "Hush now, sweetheart..." Gatomon whispered to the baby, who was rapidly kicking Gatomon's uterus. "There's nothing to be afraid of, don't worry..." Gatomon tried to soothe the baby first by stroking her belly, and whispering to the baby, to no avail. "Hmm... Oh well, looks like I'll have to use the secret weapon!" Gatomon sang the lullaby to the baby. However, even the lullaby didn't work, much to her shock. "Oh no... What am I going to do?" Is something wrong, honey?" Asked Patamon, who had just woken up. He yawned and stretched his arms. "Affirmative." Gatomon replied. "The baby won't stop kicking... I've tried to do everything, but even the lullaby doesn't work!" "Oh..." Patamon uttered. "Then it must be rather serious." "I, I think she wants to hear your voice." Gatomon stated. "Huh?" Patamon wondered. "D-do you think so?" "Yes." Gatomon said and nodded. "Okay then," Patamon started. He looked at Gatomon's belly with a gentle smile. "Hi there, sweetie." He said to the baby. "Can you hear me?" The baby still continued kicking, but this time her kicks were excited but soft and gentle. "It's working!" Gatomon exclaimed. "Keep on going." "Hmm..." Patamon said. He thought for a while before continuing. "I want to sing a song to you." Patamon said, and began singing the lullaby.

_"Lullaby, and good night. Patamon loves this sweet baby._  
_Lullaby, and good night. Snuggle close within my arms._  
_Close your eyes, rest your head, time to go nighty-ni~ight._  
_Let your heart be at peace, as you slee~ep within Azulongmon's sight!"_

This time, the lullaby actually worked. The baby stopped kicking, having presumably fallen asleep. "Hehe, she dozed off..." Gatomon said happily. "Thanks, Patamon." "It was nothing." Patamon replied. "Umm... Can I tell you a story before we start sleeping?" "O-oh, sure." Gatomon replied, looking rather surprised. "Once upon a time, there was a Patamon who loved a Gatomon much and gave her a good night kiss." Patamon told. Gatomon giggled as Patamon gave her a kiss to the cheek before the two placed their heads on pillows, covered their bodies with blankets and began sleeping. The next day, Gatomon was having a conversation with Biyomon and Palmon on a certain subject that had been bugging her for a while now. "Why didcha wanna see us, Gatomon?" Palmon inquired. "I... I wanted to talk you about something." Gatomon started. "What is it?" Biyomon wondered. "Well..." Gatomon said. She looked a little hesitant. "Patamon and I, we've been together for so long... And yet we're still only a boy- and a girlfriend. But I want something more, something that will unite us for real." "Let me guess," Biyomon interrupted. "You've been wondering if Patamon's ever going to propose to you and marry you." "That's right." Gatomon said and sighed. "What should I do? I'd want to get married, especially now that we're going to have a daughter, but Patamon hasn't asked me or said anything yet..." "No worries, Gatomon!" Palmon cheered her up. "Guys are usually pretty slow and shy when it comes to things like this, it's pretty normal actually." "That's right." Biyomon said and nodded. "All you have to do is wait: Patamon loves you so much that I'm sure he'll propose to you soon enough." "Yeah, I hope so." Gatomon murmured. "Thanks, guys. I feel very relieved now."

Back at Gatomon's and Patamon's house, Patamon was taking a shower. He hummed some sort of tune while washing himself. "Aah..." Patamon huffed out of pleasure. "Nothing feels as good as a nice shower... Okay, well, almost nothing, heh heh." Patamon looked at his reflection from a mirror closet door. Suddenly, he remembered something rather important. "The ring!" Patamon exclaimed. He immediatly opened the closet, and started searching for the ring. Thankfully, it was still there, on the same place where Patamon had hid it months ago. "Thank goodness it's still here..." Patamon sighed out of relief. "I completely forgot this thing. To be honest, it's kinda weird. The ring has been here for months, and yet Gatomon apparently didn't spot it once, even though she takes a shower every now and then..." Patamon quickly dried himself with a towel, went to the kitchen, grabbed the jar of sugar from the uppermost shelf of the larder and hid the box containing the ring back in the jar. Patamon looked very thoughtful when he put the jar back on the shelf. "I wonder when should I propose to her... Or when I've got the guts to do so." He sighed quietly. "Oh well... At least Veemon said that women are really patient when it comes to things like this, and I think I can trust his words. Veemon knows more about ladies than I do, or anyone else I know for that matter."

Soon, Gatomon returned back home. "Hi there, honey!" Patamon greeted her. "Hi..." Gatomon mumbled. "What took you so long?" Patamon wondered. "I thought you were only having a talk with Palmon and Biyomon- Umm, are you alright?" "Y-yeah." Gatomon replied, took a deep breath and sighed. "I just went to see Gina on my way home." "Oh." Patamon said and nodded. "How is she doing?" "Not too well." Gatomon stated. "She's not as lunatic as she was before, but now she's gotten paranoid and depressed. She thinks that the killer is looking for her." Gatomon's emotion changed from sadness to anger in a mere second. "It's too bad that I don't know who the killer is," She growled. "Because if I did, I'd find him, rip his heart from his chest and shove it up his-" "Shh! The baby!" Patamon hushed, and that very moment the baby kicked Gatomon's stomach hard. "Ouch!" Gatomon yelped. "Now now, dear... It's okay, I wasn't yelling at you." Gatomon rubbed her belly while the baby still kicked her, but the baby soon stopped. "We should be careful about what we say when the baby's around." Patamon stated. "Maybe we could do the same thing humans do: Put some money in a jar every time we swear in front of our daughter." Gatomon suggested. "He he he, maybe." Patamon laughed. However, after Gatomon turned around, the smile on Patamon's face changed to a worried expression. "Poor Gatomon." He thought. "Not only she has to deal with the pregnancy symptoms, but her family is dead and her sister is locked up in an asylum... How can she take all this?" Patamon stared at Gatomon, who was now reading a magazine. "Gatomon's such a strong digimon..." Patamon thought with a proud smile.

"Any interesting news?" Patamon asked Gatomon, who was still reading the magazine. "Hmm, not really..." Gatomon muttered. "There's a new restaurant opening in File Island, some cell phone company has gone bankrupt, the king and queen of a faraway kingdom called Deji had their first child, the weather is expected to start get colder from now on... The basic stuff." "I see." Patamon said and yawned. "Well, I think I'm going to bed now." "What, so soon?" Gatomon wondered. "But it's not even 9:00 P.M. yet..." "I know" Patamon replied. "But I- *YAWN* -woke up very early today, I think I'm gonna doze off soon." "I understand." Gatomon said. "Well, good night then." "Good night." Patamon said, and gave Gatomon a kiss to the cheek before going to the bedroom. "Man..." He wailed. "I'm so tired... Zzz..." Patamon fell asleep immediatly after he climbed in his bed. He dreamed yet again that it was time of the childbirth. Gatomon was lying on the floor while Patamon had crouched down next to her and held her paw. "Don't worry." He tried to comfort Gatomon, who was in great pain. "Everything's going to be alright. Just push the baby out and it's all over." "I-I'm trying..." Gatomon panted. She pushed as hard as she could, and managed to push the baby out. "Look!" Patamon exclaimed, and showed the baby to Gatomon. "It's, it's our daughter." "Our... Baby..." Gatomon gasped. "Gatomon, are you alright?" Patamon asked in a worried way. "I... I'm not going to make it..." Gatomon whispered. "Patamon... Goodbye." "Gatomon... NOOO!" Patamon cried as Gatomon passed away. That very moment he woke up from his nightmare. "Ghah!" He yelped. "Euurgh... Not another nightmare! I thought those had ended already..." Patamon shook his head as he climbed out of his bed and went downstairs.

DemiDevimon was still spying on Patamon and Gatomon, however last night didn't go that well. Not only had it rained during the entire night, but some Aurumon had kept him awake as well. "Must, continue, spying..." DemiDevimon muttered. He was wobbling slightly. "But... I'm so tired, I think I'm gonna- *YAWN* -pass out soon..." Patamon was making coffee when the phone rang all of a sudden. "Hello?" Patamon answered to the phone. "Hiya, Patamon!" T.K's voice said from the other end. "Oh, T.K!" Patamon exclaimed. "Hi! How are you doing?" "I'm fine, thanks for asking." T.K. replied. "Listen, I was wondering if you and Gatomon could come over to Kari's place. Kari and I would like to eat dinner and chat with you guys." "Oh, how thoughtful." Patamon said happily. "Of course we'll be there, I'll just have to tell Gatomon." "Okay then. See ya!" T.K. said. "Bye!" Patamon replied, hung up and put the phone back on the table. He then heard Gatomon coming downstairs. "Hi there." Patamon greeted her. "Hi." Gatomon yawned as a reply. "Umm, T.K. just called." Patamon started. "He asked if we could go to Kari's apartment today. He and Kari would want to spend some time with us." "That's so nice." Gatomon said. "Hmm..." DemiDevimon thought. He had eavesdropped on their conversation. "Maybe I should tell Master Devimon about this... But first," He was cut by a yawn. "I think I'll have a little nap, just enough so I..." DemiDevimon fell on the ground and started sleeping.

A few hour laters, Patamon and Gatomon were standing behind the door to Kari's apartment. Patamon flew up so that he could ring the doorbell. Soon enough T.K. opened the door for them. "Hi there!" T.K. greeted the two digimon of Hope and Light. "Hello." Patamon replied. "Come on in!" T.K. said and stepped out of the way, letting Patamon and Gatomon inside. "Hi, Kari!" Gatomon said to Kari. "Nice to see you again." Kari said happily. "How are you?" "We're fine, thanks." Gatomon replied. "I'm a little anxious, though. I'm on the last few weeks of the pregnancy, the baby could be born any moment now..." "I see." Kari muttered. "Although I have to admit that these past nine months have been kind of nice." Gatomon stated. "I mean, sure, there have been ups and downs, and it's taken such a long time, but there has also been a lot of pleasant moments despite all of the pregnancy symptoms." "I'm glad you're thinking that way." Patamon said and smiled. "I mean, you're the one who has suffered the most during all of this, and it's all because of me..." "Hey, knock it off, Patamon!" T.K. said and slapped Patamon's back. "Oof!" Patamon groaned. "Don't blame yourself, especially when there's nothing to blame you for. You and Gatomon are going to have a baby, it's going to be one of the happiest occasions in your life!" "I-I know, you're right." Patamon muttered. He felt slightly embarrassed now. "I just, I hate seeing Gatomon suffering like that." "Aww, you don't have to worry about me, honey." Gatomon stated. "I can take care of myself." "Now then," T.K. started. "I think we should start eating dinner." "Good idea!" Patamon, Kari and Gatomon all cheered and sat down at the kitchen table.

T.K, Kari, Patamon and Gatomon spent some quality time together, eating dinner, having conversations and overall having fun. In the evening, Patamon and Gatomon decided to return back home. "It was nice to see you guys again." Patamon stated. "But I think we have to get going now." "Too bad." Kari said. "Well, see you later then." "Goodbye-" Gatomon started, but was cut by a contraction. "Aagh!" She screamed. "Gatomon!" Patamon and Kari exclaimed. "Gatomon, are you alright?" "A... A contraction..." Gatomon gasped. She was breathing rapidly. "B-but... It was different. More painful than ever." T.K, Kari and Patamon looked at one another in a worried way. "I... I think it is time." Gatomon stated, and yelped after experiencing another contraction. "A-are you sure?" Patamon asked. "I, I'm positive." Gatomon mumbled. "Maybe we should wait and-" Kari started. "There's no time to wait, the baby's going to be born NOW!" Gatomon exclaimed. Patamon and Kari helped Gatomon on the couch. "I'm gonna call Joe." T.K. said to Kari. "Alright then." Kari replied. "Just hurry up, please. We may not have much time..." T.K. nodded, and rushed to the kitchen to make a call. "Oh, god..." Gatomon sobbed. "Don't worry." Patamon whispered in a gentle tone. He sat down right next to Gatomon, grabbed her paw and started rubbing it in order to ease her pain. "This is going to be it..." Patamon thought, and gulped silently. "It has been nine months now. We, we are going to have a baby... I'm going to be a father."

"Mmmh..." Yawned DemiDevimon, who had just woken up. "Man... A small nap sure helped." He said and rubbed his eyes. "Now I think I can continue spying on- What?" Something was wrong. DemiDevimon looked at Patamon's and Gatomon's house. The lights were out, and there seemed to be nobody in there. "Uh-oh... They ought to be in the human world now! I have to hurry!" DemiDevimon took off, and flew through a nearby Gate. Luckily for him, the Gate just so happened to lead to Kari's apartment. DemiDevimon cautiously observed his surroundings, and listened through the door. "It's okay, Gatomon." Kari said. DemiDevimon heard Gatomon crying hard, and he sniggered deviously. "I... I think my water broke." Gatomon stated. "Oh no, it's finally the time of the childbirth!" DemiDevimon thought. "I have to tell Master Devimon!" He took out his bat-shaped radiophone. "Master Devimon, it is time!" "What?" Devimon asked from the other end. "It's time! The childbirth has begun!" DemiDevimon explained. "Hmm... Well done, DemiDevimon." Devimon congratulated DemiDevimon. "Where are you?" "In the Human World, in Kari's apartment!" DemiDevimon explained. "Good. Get out of there as quick as possible." Devimon ordered him. DemiDevimon nodded, and returned back to the Digital World. "Patamon..." Gatomon whispered. "Y-yes, honey?" Patamon asked. "...I love you." Gatomon said, and gave Patamon a huge kiss before she had another contraction which forced her to stop and weep. She experienced the greatest pain in her life: Gatomon wasn't sure if she was going to make it out alive. "It's going to be fine." Patamon assured himself. "We'll be a family soon... Everything's going to be fine."

_"Okay, Gatomon, just relax. T.K. called Joe,and he will be here in a minute."_

_"But... It hurts... Uuh..."_

_"That's probably Joe."_

_"Hi there. Is everything okay here?"_

_"Well, I'm just going through the most painful experience in my lifetime, that's all."_

_"The first child is alwayst the hardest one. Now... Try to push when I say 'now', okay? ...Now!"_

_"Aaaahh!"_

_"Good, the baby is almost out. Just one more time, okay?"_

_"Hnnggh!"_

_"Congratulations," Joe said with a smile. "It's a girl."_

_"She's... Beautiful." Patamon said. "She looks just like you." Gatomon said to Patamon. "Maybe a little. But she's got your eyes." Patamon replied._

_"So, um... Have you decided a name for your baby yet?" T.K. asked Patamon._

_Patamon looked at the little baby digimon sleeping in his arms. "She's basically a female Patamon, so... I'll call her Patty." He said._


	21. Epilogue

Epilogue

Patamon was sitting on the couch, looking after Patty, who was lying on the floor drawing pictures. While Patty was only 7 months old, she had the mind of a 6-year-old human girl, and the bodily maturity of a 12-year-old. "What are you drawing, Patty?" Patamon asked her daughter. "You'll see." Patty replied with a weird smile. "Look now, Papa!" She showed her picture to Patamon. She had drawn Patamon, Gatomon and herself standing there together with a wide smile on all of their faces. "What do you think, Papa?" Patty asked. "It looks great." Patamon replied and handed the picture back to Patty. Patty smiled, placed the picture on a table, turned on the TV and started watching cartoons. That moment, Gatomon stepped in the living room. "Hi there." She said to Patamon. Patamon turned his head, replied "Hi." and gave a kiss to Gatomon. "How's the baby?" "Fine." Gatomon replied happily. She was pregnant again, but had been only for four months now. The two looked at their daughter. "She's so beautiful..." Gatomon whispered to Patamon. "I know." Patamon sighed. "We've done a great job raising her... Or should I say, you have." Gatomon stated. "Hey, you have also been a great mother." Patamon said. "Maybe," Gatomon started. "But the bond between you and Patty is much stronger. After all, it was you who was there for her when I was... Gone. And I must thank you for that: Our daughter is cheerful, optimistic and kind, and she's made lots of friends, all thanks to you." Patamon blushed briefly, but didn't say anything.

All of a sudden, Patty yawned and stretched her arms. Patamon took a look at the clock. "Looks like it's time for the little ones to go to bed." "M-maybe..." Patty mumbled. Patamon took Patty in her arms. "I'll be right back." He said to Gatomon as he carried Patty to her room and placed Patty in her bed. "Good night, Patty." Patamon said. "Papa... Could you sing to me?" Patty asked. Patamon looked at her for a while before saying "Sure."

_"Lullaby, and good night. Patamon loves this sweet Patty._  
_Lullaby, and good night. Snuggle close within my arms._  
_Close your eyes, rest your head, time to go nighty-ni~ight._  
_Let your heart be at peace, as you slee~ep within Azulongmon's sight!"_

Patty immediatly fell asleep. Patamon covered Patty's body with a blanket. "Sweet dreams, Patty." He whispered, kissed Patty on the forehead and left the room, closing the door and leaving Patty sleep in peace.

The End

**_A/N: _**_So... That's another Challenge of Fatherhood-related fanfic over. Thanks to all of those who have been reading and reviewing this, I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it.  
Anyhow, I'm taking another break now before my next major Challenge of Fatherhood-sequel. Don't worry, I'll still probably write some oneshots or smaller fics.  
Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!  
_


End file.
